Avast uncovered seven fleeceware apps on the Google Play Store that are scamming millions of unsuspecting Minecraft gamers. Here’s what you need to do.
Avast has discovered a new category of malicious applications on the Google Play Store. Known as ‘fleeceware’, these Android apps are targeting gamers, particularly those that play Minecraft — one of the best selling video games of all time.
Researchers at Avast warned that through fraudulent Minecraft related apps, bad actors are disproportionately charging users hundreds of dollars per month for Minecraft add-ons like new skins, colorful wallpapers, or modifications. Avast has reported seven of these apps to Google, but they are all still active as of this publication.
Fleeceware app peddlers initially offer it as free services for a few days and later dupe users into signing up for automatic subscriptions. Unsuspecting gamers, especially children, may install such apps and forget about them, losing hundreds of dollars per month in subscription payments.
Ondrej David, Malware Analysis Team Lead at Avast, said, “Scams of this nature take advantage of those who don’t always read the fine print details of every app they download. In this case, young children are particularly at risk because they may think they are innocently downloading a Minecraft accessory, but not understand or may not pay attention to the details of the service to which they are subscribing.â€
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It isn’t difficult to understand why Minecraft gamers are being targeted. Microsoft-owned Minecraft is one of the most popular and successful games of all time with sales hitting 200 million in March 2020Opens a new window , and has 126 million monthly players — 20% of which are childrenOpens a new window and young adults.
Fleeceware apps aren’t particularly dangerous to the user or device security in a way malware, trojans, adware, spyware are, but are becoming notorious for duping people out of their cash. Six of the seven fleeceware apps discovered by Avast charged users $30 per week. For perspective, this amounts to $1,560 per year.
Of the seven fleeceware apps that Avast reported to Google, five have over one million installations, and 100K users have downloaded the remaining two. To mitigate the threat from such apps, users need to cancel the Play Store subscription besides uninstalling it from their device.
| Fleeceware App Name | Subscription Cost
(Post the Trial Period) |
Downloads |
| Skins, Mods, Maps for Minecraft PEOpens a new window | $30/Week | One Million+ |
| Skins for RobloxOpens a new window | $30/Week | One Million+ |
| Live Wallpapers HD & 3D BackgroundOpens a new window | $90/Year | 100K+ |
| MasterCraft for MinecraftOpens a new window | $30/Week | One Million+ |
| Master for MinecraftOpens a new window | $30/Week | One Million+ |
| Boys and Girls SkinsOpens a new window | $30/Week | One Million+ |
| Maps Skins and Mods for MinecraftOpens a new window | $30/Week | 100K+ |
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None of the seven reported apps have been removed from the Google Play Store as of now.
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