Google Play Store Trojans in Fake Minecraft Mods

If you like playing Minecraft on your tablet or smartphone that runs on Android OS, then there are high chances that you’ve downloaded some “fake” mods from the Google Play Store.

It seems that more than 80 malicious applications that have been disguised as Minecraft mods contain Trojans that will spam you with advertisements or redirect you to scam websites. This has been confirmed by ESET, a well known cyber security company from Slovakia.

According to Lukas Stefanko, the malware researchers that has found the fake mods, says that more than 1 million downloads of the malicious applications from the Google Play Store have been completed. Stefanko claims that many users often fall for these fake applications because they are promising to deliver something new for the popular Minecraft game.

Once the users launch the “fake” mods on their Android devices, a screen with a download button will appear that redirects them to a web page with messages that tell them that a virus has been found on their device and in order to remove it, they need to download a new application. Other “fake” mods will just display numerous advertisements that will not only slow down the device, but it will be very annoying for the user.

ESET claims that the two types of “applications” have been available on the Google Play Store from March 16, 2017 until March 21, 2017. So, if you’ve downloaded a Minecraft “mod” application in this period of time, you should install a good antivirus and start cleaning your device.

We remind you that this is not the first time when Minecraft-related malware has been found on the Google Play Store. Back in May 2015, ESET has also discovered over 30 applications that pretended to be cheats for Minecraft and they were installed by more than 600.000 Android users.