Android Alert: Google pulls No. 1 selling fake virus scanner app

Android users beware, the list of fake and useless imitation apps are on the rise and the latest to hit Android users is a fake antivirus app – Virus Shield – that simply did nothing yet charged the users $4 for a download.

Google has since removed the app from the store but not before it had already sold more than 10,000 downloads and reached the No. 1 position in the top new paid Android apps category.

It was Tech blog Androidpolice that blew the whistle on the fake app when writer Michael Crider pointed out “The #1 New Paid App In The Play Store Costs $4, Has Over 10,000 Downloads, A 4.7-Star Rating... And It's A Total Scam”.

The author went on to download the app and decompile it. The result, he notes, “We've confirmed that this app is totally and completely devoid of any security benefit…. It's literally a fake security app: the only thing that it does is change from an "X" image to a "check" image after a single tap. That's it. That's all there is, there isn't any more,” the report said.

The app has been developed by “Deviant Solutions" which does not even have a website of its own.

According to another report by Daily Tech the app could be a brainchild of a 17 year old teenager Jesse Carter.

Now that Google has pulled down Virus Shield, refunds should ideally be on their way to the 10,000-odd subscribers who thought their Android phones were indeed protected by the fake app. Although there is a refund policy for purchased Google Apps provided there are reasons to prove it, in this case users may not after all have to have to slog much.

At the time Google pulled down the app it was trending as the number one in the Paid app category on Google Play.

Android users are specifically concerned about security of their devices amidst reports that almost 97 per cent of mobile malware were on Android phones. The number of threats on Android rose from 238 in 2012 to 804 2013, mostly from third-party platforms.

According to a report by F-Secure,  Saudi Arabia was first among the top ten countries reporting Android malware detections during the latter part of last year. “Of the top 10 countries reporting Android malware detections to our systems in H2 2013, fully 75 per cent of the reports originated from Saudi Arabia and India,” the report said.

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