Stalker Android Apps with many Downloads Found in Google Play Store

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A new batch of malicious apps was detected in the Google Play Store by security vendor Avast, and this time the purpose was to access information like the location of the user and collect contacts, SMS, and call history.

The stalkware apps, as they are called, reached a combined download count of 130,000, and the most downloaded of them were Spy Tracker and SMS Tacker, both with more than 50,000 hits each.

Avast says the apps have already been removed by Google, but it’s obviously not known how many victims they managed to make during the time they were listed in the Play store.

The apps relied on a complex system to make sure they compromise Android devices.

“The apps require the snoop to have access to the phone they want to spy on. The snoop can download the apps from the Google Play Store and install them on the target device. The app then prompts the person who installed the app to enter their email address and password. The spying app is sent there,” Avast explains.