Google Play app spread SMS trojan for more than a year

An app recently available in the Google Play store claimed to be a download for wallpapers, videos and music, but in reality, it was a SMS trojan app.

The package name “com.FREE_APPS_435.android” tricked victims by getting them to allow the app to access their SMS messages, according to a Malwarebytes blog post. If a user clicked through the app's Google Play homepage to the developer's website, they found two banners and links.

The banners advertised downloadable content that users could receive if they sent a text message to a premium SMS number. That text ultimately subscribed a user to a daily feed that cost 37 cents per day.

Malwarebytes researchers have flagged this trojan and similar variants as Android/Trojan.SMS.Agent.

The app was last updated in 2013 and was taken down from Google Play store earlier today after researchers notified the app store.