McAfee researchers have found 38 Android apps that can infect your phone with malware, Phonerena reports.
Smartphones are always at risk of getting infected with malware. Malware can find its way to your device in many ways, but downloading a malicious file or app is the most common way of it. In one of the latest cases, McAfee Mobile Research Team came up with a “HiddenAds” campaign that includes 38 Android games that were discovered on the Google Play Store.
As the name suggests, these Android games can run advertising in the background and generate illicit revenue for creators. According to a McAfee report, these apps are installed by at least 35 million users worldwide, and some of them even have over 10 million downloads. Additionally, the United States, Canada, South Korea, and Brazil are the most affected regions.
These infected Android games can load up your phone with malware, McAfee says
Running ads in the background without permission can create an unfavorable experience for users. For example, it can slow down the device, cause sudden crashes, and freeze the device while playing a game. Identifying the roots of the issue is also hard in such cases.
McAfee says they have reported infected apps to Google, and none exist in the Play Store anymore. However, if you’ve already installed any of these Android apps, you should promptly remove them from your device.
Here is the list of the infected Android games:
- Block Box Master Diamond
- Craft Sword Mini Fun
- Block Box Skyland Sword
- Craft Monster Crazy Sword
- Block Pro Forrest Diamond
- Block Game Skyland Forrest
- Block Rainbow Sword Dragon
- Craft Rainbow Mini Builder
- Block Forrest Tree Crazy
- Craft Clever Monster Castle
- Block Monster Diamond Dragon
- Craft World Fun Robo
- Block Pixelart Tree Pro
- Craft Mini Lucky Fun
- Block Earth Skyland World
- Block Rainbow Monster Castle
- Block Fun Rainbow Builder
- Craft Dragon Diamond Robo
- Block World Tree Monster
- Block Diamond Boy Pro
- Block Lucky Master Earth
- Craft Forrest Mini Fun
- Craft Sword City Pro
- Block Loki Monster Builder
- Block Boy Earth Mini
- Block Crazy Builder City
- Craft Sword Vip Pixelart
- Block City Fun Diamond
- Craft City Loki Rainbow
- Craft Boy Clever Sun
- Block City Dragon Sun
- Craft Loki Forrest Monster
- Lokicraft: Forrest Survival 3D
- Craft Castle Sun Rain
- Craft Game Earth World
- Craft Lucky Castle Builder
- Craftsman: Building City 2022
- Craft Rainbow Pro Rain
You can check the above list and see if you’ve installed any of these apps. And if you have, it’s recommended that you uninstall them as soon as possible. Especially if you live in one of the listed regions where the impact number is the highest.