The #1 paid app in the Google Playstore "Virus Shield" is a complete scam

[Exterminator]

Content source

http://www.neowin.net/news/the-1-paid-app-in-the-google-playstore-virus-shield-is-a-complete-scam

Security is an important factor when it comes to technology, and in most cases you can never have too much. In 2014, our smartphones know more about us than we know about ourselves, and if malware were to creep onto our smartphones then we could potentially suffer some major consequences. As a result, like any reasonable person, we would look to secure our device. This is what Deviant Solutions, the creator of the current #1 Play Store app, decided to capitalize on.



No, ZERO!

Virus Shield claims it is an antivirus that "protects you and your personal information from harmful viruses, malware, and spyware" and "Improve the speed of your phone," and it does this all with one click. It also claims to have a minimal impact on battery, run seamlessly in the background, and if that wasn't enough, it also acts as ad-block software that will stop those "pesky advertisements." This app costs $3.99, has been on the Play Store for just under two weeks and has already had 10,000 downloads with a 4.5 star review from 1,700 people. 2,607 people hit the Google "recommend" button. This means that the app must be doing something right... right?

Unfortunately for the buyers, Android Police has discovered that all the app does is change a red "X" graphic to a red "check" graphic. Literally. The 859kb app doesn't protect, secure, or scan anything. More work went into the Settings menu than the actual "security" portion of the app, and it appears that thousands of users have been scammed out of their money.



For $3.99, you get to see the image on the left turn into the image on the right

In tracking down the creator, it appeared that the creator was a well known scammer who had been banned from forums for trying to scam people out of low-valued online game items.

This calls into question some concerns about the openness of the Play Store. Is a walled-garden approach where the app goes through a strict review process, similar to what currently takes place in Apple's App Store, a better model for smartphones? Or does the freedom that comes from Google's approach outweigh the negatives of a bad app creeping in every now and then?

 

[Venhiem]

thanks

 

[Jaspion]

That's ridiculous. Thanks.

 

[Malware1]

http://malwaretips.com/threads/virus-shield.25111/

 

[Ink]

If Android, like WP8 didn't need an AV, then less people would be scammed. Especially when it comes to security needs.

 

[Oxygen]

Google needs to pay more attention.

 

[Dima007]

Before it was flagged and removed, the top paid app on Google Play for over a week was an advertised antivirus app that did absolutely nothing other than change an image.

(Screenshot by Michelle Starr/CNET Australia)

There's something that Android users have to worry about a little more than iOS users and that's malware. A quick search on both marketplaces will reveal a noticeable imbalance in the number of apps available that provide antivirus services — and a good antivirus app can do very well on the Android marketplace.

So too can a bad antivirus app. An app called Virus Shield launched on 28 March at a price point of AU$3.99, and proved so popular that it rocketed to the top of the paid app charts and stayed there. It collected over 10,000 installs, and positive four- and five-star reviews from 1270 users. Its selling points were its clean interface and simplicity: all a user had to do was tap the screen to activate antivirus protection, and that was it.

(Screenshot by Michelle Starr/CNET Australia)

However, according to an in-depth teardown by Android Police, it didn't actually work as advertised. In fact, it didn't work at all. After examining the app's java code (which the website mirrored on Github), the app only does one thing.

The image changes when you tap the screen, turning the X into a tick. That's it.

After Android Police posted its discovery, Google removed both app and seller from the app store, but it does highlight a few serious flaws in the marketplace. Google does have a malware scanning service, but this app contained absolutely no malware — it was harmless, except for the fact that it was scamming users out of the price of admission.

The other is the Google Play refund policy. To get an automatic refund on an app, you need to apply within 15 minutes of installing it. Otherwise, you have to contact the developer directly — and, given that he was scamming people, we don't think there's going to be much joy for users there.

Fake apps surface on Google Play fairly frequently, which is unfortunately the nature of an open platform. Previously, user reviews would help other users determine whether an app was worth their money, but as Virus Shield demonstrates, that's not always reliable. Antivirus apps are particularly easy to fake, too — many users just assume that the app knows what it's doing.

At this point, we can only recommend you do your research away from the Google Play marketplace. Find out if the developer has a website or blog, or only download antivirus apps from trusted providers such as AVG, Avira, Avast, Malwarebytes, Doctor Web, McAfee, Norton, Trend Micro and Bitdefender.

 

[Ink]

Merged similar topics. Never knew Android users were the smartest ones.

 

[Littlebits]

I just recently removed this junk from my mother's phone. She installed it but didn't buy it so it starting locking up settings and pop up notifications. I installed Avast Mobile and it nailed it right away and removed it without any problems.

Why would Google allow this in their store?

Thanks.

 

[Jack]

It seems like Google has finally take this rogue antivirus down:

Google takes down fake anti-virus app that duped 10,000 users on Play Store
The Virus Shield app cost $3.99 and claimed to be a scanner that protected Android devices from viruses, while promising to never annoy users with pop-up ads found on many free apps.

Too bad for the 10,000 people who paid for it - Virus Shield was a fake.

Read more: http://nakedsecurity.sophos.com/201...rus-app-that-duped-10000-users-on-play-store/