Just a few days ago, Google removed Cheetah Mobile’s CM File Manager and Kika Tech’s Kika Keyboard apps from the Play Store after they were found running ad click fraud. Google has now kicked out 22 more apps from the Play Store that were engaged in click fraud, with one of them being a popular app with over a million downloads.
The apps are said to have used up a lot of data because they were continuously communicating with the home server in the background, which also led to the battery draining at a faster rate than usual. But the biggest worry is that the apps could install a malicious code or module from the connected server which can infect the smartphone with a virus, steal data, etc.
Another issue is said that not many users are actually aware or concerned about the high data usage and battery consumption metrics of individual apps, which is why the apps did not generate any suspicions. Moreover, these apps mostly had positive reviews on the Play Store, which further allayed any doubts. If you have any of the above apps installed on your Android device, we recommend you to uninstall them as soon as possible and reset your phone to weed out existing malware.
