Google removes 8 deceptive cryptocurrency mining apps from the Play Store

• Trend Micro, a cybersecurity firm, has discovered over 120 fraudulent bitcoin mining applications on the internet. Some of them were discovered on the Google Play Store, which was quickly deleted by the internet behemoth
• We have found eight fraudulent smartphone apps posing as bitcoin cloud mining services
• Despite this, the cybersecurity company claims that a Google Play search for cloud mining returns many worrisome applications of the same sort, with some of these apps having already been downloaded more than 100,000 times

Trend Micro, a cybersecurity firm, has discovered over 120 fraudulent bitcoin mining applications on the internet. Some of them were discovered on the Google Play Store, which was quickly deleted by the internet behemoth. However, the shop still has many worrying applications of the same sort, with some of these apps having been downloaded over 100,000 times. Trend Micro, a global cybersecurity software firm, issued a warning on Wednesday about fraudulent bitcoin cloud mining applications that deceive users into watching advertisements and paying for subscription services. According to the business,

We have found eight fraudulent smartphone apps posing as bitcoin cloud mining services. Users may earn bitcoin by putting their money into a cloud-mining business. Bitcoin (BTC) – Pool Mining Cloud Wallet, Crypto Holic, Daily Bitcoin Rewards, Bitcoin 2021, Minebit Pro, and Ethereum (ETH) – Pool Mining Cloud are the titles of the programs. 

These malicious applications trick consumers into watching advertising, paying for subscription services with an average monthly price of US$15, and paying for greater mining capabilities without getting anything in return, according to Trend Micro. They have submitted our findings to Google Play, and the applications have been swiftly deleted from the Play Store, the company continued.

Despite this, the cybersecurity company claims that a Google Play search for cloud mining returns many worrisome applications of the same sort, with some of these apps having already been downloaded more than 100,000 times. Trend Micro highlighted the following user data from the company’s Mobile App Reputation Service (MARS), more than 120 phony bitcoin mining programs can still be found on the internet. 

Between July 2020 and July 2021, around 4,500 people were impacted by these applications, which do not have bitcoin mining capabilities and trick users into watching in-app advertising. As part of their research, we discovered that some of these phony crypto-mining apps encouraged users to click on advertising rather than urging them to pay for more processing power, the business explained.

According to the business, several programs, such as Bitcoin (BTC) – Pool Mining Cloud Wallet and Bitcoin 2021, include harmful features with cluttered UI. Users are asked to click on advertisements to show that they are not robots, and they are told that after viewing video advertising within the program, they may begin mining. They’re also told to view in-app video advertising to speed up mining.

Ritika Sharma

With a background in journalism, Ritika Sharma has worked with many reputed media firms focusing on general news such as politics and crime. She joined The Coin Republic as a reporter for crypto, and found a great passion for cryptocurrency, Web3, NFTs and other digital assets. She spends a lot of time researching and delving deeper into these concepts around the clock, and is a strong advocate for women in STEM.