Google suspends shady Samsung update app
San Francisco: Google has suspended a fraudulent mobile app on the Google Play Store called “Updates for Samsung” for violating its policies that claimed to offer system-level Android updates to smartphones.
In a statement on Monday, Google said that “providing a safe and secure experience is a top priority and our Google Play developer policies strictly prohibit apps that are deceptive, malicious, or intended to abuse or misuse any network, device, or personal data. When violations are found, we take action”, The Verge reported.
In addition, the developer of the app claimed that it was pulling the app to “remove the firmware service portion and non-Google payments”, although it said that the app was a “convenience to our audience”.
In an official communication, CSIS Security Group indicated that as many as 10,000,000 users were tricked into downloading this app from the Google Play Store.
The report mentioned that the app offered a free download with restricted speed limits of 56KBps, which took around four hours to finish a download more than 500MB in size.
CSIS’s report also points out that the counterfeit application even offers bogus SIM unlocking for $19.99.