These Android apps may be stealing your banking details – Times of India

Google has reportedly removed several fake antivirus apps from the Play Store. According to a recent report by cybersecurity experts from Check Point Research, at least six antivirus apps in the Google Play Store were used to spread banking malware. The apps mentioned in the report were:

  • Atom Clean-Booster, Antivirus
  • Antivirus, Super Cleaner
  • Alpha Antivirus, Cleaner
  • Powerful Cleaner, Antivirus
  • Center Security – Antivirus

The report further reveals that these apps pretended to be genuine anti-virus solutions while in reality they downloaded and installed an Android Stealer called Sharkbot.
What is Sharkbot
Sharkbot is a banking malware that steals your personal information such as credentials and banking information. The malware implements a geofencing feature and evasion techniques that makes it stand out in the field. The malware lures victims to enter their credentials in windows that mimic benign credential input forms.
Once you enter your credentials in the fake input windows, your details are sent to fraudsters via malicious servers. According to the report, the malware does not target every potential victim and it also has a geofencing feature. The cybersecurity report has also revealed that Sharkbot also uses evasion techniques.
The applications discovered by Check Point Research were downloaded and installed approximately 15 thousand times. The apps came from three developer accounts, Zbynek Adamcik, Adelmio Pagnotto and Bingo Like Inc.
How to stay safe from such malicious apps
Google Play Protect helps to keep Android devices safe from malicious apps and malwares to a great extent. It runs a safety check on apps from the Google Play Store before you download them. It also warns you about any detected potentially harmful apps found, and removes known harmful apps from your device. However, sometimes few dangerous apps can still sneak past the security feature.
To stay protected, Check Point Research suggests that users should install applications only from trusted and verified publishers. If you see an application from a new publisher, search for analogs from a trusted one and report to Google any seemingly suspicious applications you encounter.

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