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Google Banned 12 Android Apps – Warned Millions of People to Remove Them Immediately

Last Updated: February 7, 2023

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Google has blocked 12 apps from the Play Store. Not only this, but the company warned millions of users to remove them immediately. Google has banned 12 Android apps for tricking users into watching endless ads or trying to steal sensitive data through phishing attacks.

Google has banned 12 Android apps – Millions of people have been warned to remove them immediately

Some of these were fitness apps while others were games. The issues were discovered by Dr Web’s cybersecurity team. Some of the affected apps have been downloaded more than five million times by users around the world.

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The first few apps to be removed from Google promised users rewards for staying active. The more walking and exercise users did each day, the more points they scored for free prizes. However, when most people tried to cash out, they were either blocked from claiming or asked to watch endless ads without getting anything in return.

These apps were:

Lucky Step – Walking Tracker • 10 million downloads
WalkingJoy – 5 million downloads
Lucky Habit: Health Tracker – 5 million downloads (currently still available on the Play Store).

The other apps that were removed from Google’s servers were found to attempt to siphon personal information through phishing tactics. In phishing, attackers try to trick users into clicking a bad link that downloads malware.

Apps removed from the Play Store