• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
TechEngage®

TechEngage®

Technology news and opinions

  • Tech News
  • Reviews
  • How-to
  • Roundups
  • Science
    • Energy
    • Environment
    • Health
    • Space
  • Apps
  • More
    • Opinion
    • Noteworthy
    • Culture
    • Blockchain
      • Cryptocurrency
    • Events
    • Deals
    • Startups
      • Startup Submissions
  • Videos
TechEngage » News » Apps

Google bans 29 malicious beauty camera apps from Google Play Store

Avatar Of Fazeel Ashraf Fazeel Ashraf Updated: January 10, 2021

A picture Google symbol using lights

Google has removed 29 photo editing and beauty apps from its Google Play Store.

People’s desire to beautify themselves for social media photos has hastened the spread of apps that allow users to airbrush and otherwise modify their selfies and other images. But it turns out a lot of these apps have been stealing photos or even spying on users. The designers who made the apps in question also programmed them to fill users’ phones with full-page ads and steal data by tricking users into believing they won a contest.

Trend Micro, a security intelligence blog, confirmed this news. Some of these “beauty apps” would even send pornographic content to users’ smartphones every time they opened the app.

The malicious apps had already been downloaded millions of times by the time they had been pulled from the Play Store. Most of the downloads originated from Asia, specifically India. The developers even managed to “hide” the apps once they were downloaded. These apps did not appear in the installed apps list, so users often forget that they had even installed the app (and could likely have difficulty deleting them without special instructions).

According to Trend Micro, the apps used a variety of tactics to avoid detection and deletions. Many apps did not send notifications to users when running on their phones; some compressed the malicious code so it couldn’t be detected instantly, while others ran the code on remote servers.

The beauty apps also tricked users into giving up their personal information. Some asked users several questions and then forced them to enter their info before revealing the information users wanted from the program. Other apps sent photos to a remote server for editing and beautifying (and, of course, kept a copy).

Some apps never returned the photos; instead, they displayed a picture with a fake message informing users that they needed to update the app. Trend Micro believes that the stolen images were used in other nefarious acts, such as providing photos for fake social media accounts.

In total, the 29 malicious apps were downloaded more than 4 million times. Three of the apps alone accounted for more than 3 million of the downloads. Trend Micro noted that:

“These apps seemingly allows users to “beautify” their pictures by uploading them to the designated server. However, instead of getting a final result with the edited photo, the user gets a picture with a fake update prompt in nine different languages. The authors can collect the photos uploaded in the app, and possibly use them for malicious purposes—for example as fake profile pics in social media.”

It was easy for users to be fooled by these apps as they were often impossible to distinguish from credible ones. The only real warning for users was in the reviews of some apps.

Unfortunately, this isn’t the first time Google has had to delete malicious apps from the Play Store. It will be essential to keep track of how Google attempts to resolve these issues since they continue to pop up.

This post was orginally published on: February 4, 2019 and was updated on: January 10, 2021.

Related Tags: Google Google Play Store MaliciousApps

Related Stories

  • Facebook Launches Messenger For Windows And Mac

    Facebook launches Messenger for Windows and Mac

  • Microsoft’S New Office App For Ios And Android Combines Word, Excel, And Powerpoint

    Microsoft’s new Office app for iOS and Android combines Word, Excel, and PowerPoint

  • Cydia App Store For Jailbroken Iphones, Shutting Down Purchases

    Cydia app store for jailbroken iPhones, shutting down purchases

Avatar Of Fazeel Ashraf

Fazeel Ashraf

Former Author @TechEngage

IT graduate from the National University of Science and Technology with a passion for writing. When not reading or writing, I can be found listening to rock and metal or playing some classic jams on my electric guitar. I’m also a big fan of horror movies.

Reader Interactions

Share Your Thoughts Cancel reply

Please read our comment policy before submitting your comment. Your email address will not be used or publish anywhere. You will only receive comment notifications if you opt to subscribe below.

Primary Sidebar

Become a contributor

We are accepting contributor applications. All applications will be decided in 3 days after applying. To learn more click here.
TechEngage-Apple-News
TechEngage-Google-News
best monitors for office

Best monitors for office (work from home) for 2023

best keyboard apps

Best Android keyboard apps 2023

Recent Stories

  • 6 best treadmills on Amazon in 2023
  • Samsung unveils Galaxy S23 series with “made for Galaxy” Snapdragon processor
  • Netflix crackdown nears as streaming giant tightens password sharing rules
  • Best ad blockers for desktop in 2023
  • Top Slack Alternatives in 2023

Footer

Discover

  • About us
  • Newsroom
  • Staff
  • Advertise
  • Send us a tip
  • Startup Submission Questionnaire
  • Brand Kit
  • Contact us

Legal pages

  • Reviews Guarantee
  • Community Guidelines
  • Corrections Policy and Practice
  • Cookies Policy
  • Our Ethics
  • Disclaimer
  • GDPR Compliance
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms and Conditions

Must reads

  • Best AirPods alternatives on Amazon
  • Best PC monitors for gaming on Amazon
  • Best family board games
  • Best Graphics Cards (GPUs) for gaming
  • Best video doorbells without subscription
  • Best handheld video game consoles
  • Best all-season tires for snow
  • Best mobile Wi-Fi hotspots
  • Best treadmills on Amazon
  • Best AM radios for long-distance reception

Download our apps

TechEngage-app-google-play-store

Copyright © 2023 · All Rights Reserved · TechEngage® is a Project of TechAbout LLC.
TechEngage® is a registered trademark in United Kingdom under Trademark Number UK00003417167 and is ISSN protected under the ISSN 2690-3776 and OCLC Number 1139335774.

Go to mobile version