Google's inferno: Removal of fake cryptocurrency apps

Cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Ripple have gained popularity over the years especially with the rapid rise in Bitcoin's value in the last five years, raising everyone's interest in this "digital cake".

These cryptocurrencies can be bought, mined, or earned by performing simple tasks through paid to click (PTC) sites, faucets, "watch ads-to-earn" apps and many more.

Not all of these platforms fulfill their promises, but scam their users of their hard earned money by convincing them to pay a certain fee for high profitability.

Google's inferno

Google recently removed eight (8) cryptocurrency apps from its play store after the Japanese security firm- Trend micro prompted Google on its discovery of the malicious activities of apps that scams people of their money by promising that users can earn Cryptocurrencies by mining on their devices, and luring them into paying for an increase in mining power at a certain fee but with no return. These apps trick users into watching ads, and subscribing at an average of 15 USD monthly.

Below is the list of apps removed from the play store:

• Crypto Holic- Bitcoin cloud mining

• Bitcoin 2021

• BitFunds – Crypto Cloud Mining

• Ethereum (ETH) - Pool Mining Cloud

• Bitcoin Miner – Cloud Mining

• Bitcoin (BTC) – Pool Mining Cloud Wallet

• MineBit Pro - Crypto Cloud Mining & btc miner

• Daily Bitcoin Rewards – Cloud Based Mining System

It was discovered that these apps have no Mining capability but are designed to imitate mining behaviors using mining simulation systems. They also come with a billing system such that users have to pay subscription fees ranging from 15 USD to 100 USD and above. Trend micro discovered that two of the above named apps requires payments before they can be downloaded, Crypto Holic – Bitcoin cloud mining requires users to pay $12.99 to purchase the app while users needed to pay $5.99 to download the Daily Bitcoin Rewards – Cloud based mining app.

Apart from purchasing the apps, users were also tricked into paying extra in order to upgrade their mining capacity by buying “mining machines”. They also mentioned that there are over 120 similar cryptocurrency scam apps on the Google play store.

It was discovered that it was clearly stated in the Mine Bit Pro app that it is only “an educational simulation game designed to teach people about crypto money ecosystem”, which means that whatever money is paid by users on the app is just for fun, and no legal action can be taken against the app developers for the fraudulent actions since it has already been mentioned in the apps terms of use.

If you have any of these apps on your android phone they should be uninstalled immediately unless you intend to lose more money than you already have.

How to identify fake crypto mining apps according to Trend micro

• Users should note that most of the 5-star reviews on the play store are fake and should take note of the 1-star reviews before purchasing any such apps as the manufacturers can create fake reviews to attract potential victims.

• If an app accepts a wrong cryptocurrency address and proceeds with its normal operation without issues then it is definitely a scam because it has no intention of making payment to the inputted address.

• Restarting your device during the mining process will force the logs to be reset to zero in a fake mining app, this way a scam miner app can be detected.

• The withdrawal of the mined funds always require a fee, this fee is always higher compared to what is made from the mining process. If the withdrawal process is completely free of charge then it should be considered suspicious and is definitely a scam.

Conclusion

There are over 120 fraudulent cryptocurrency apps on the internet which will attempt to rob you of your money by masquerading as mining apps and “watch ads to earn” platforms. These apps are highly malicious and will steal your data if installed on your device. Do your personal research before downloading any of such apps in order not to fall victim of these frauds.