Android users should uninstall these 36 fraudulent beauty apps, researchers warn

Google has removed 36 applications from the Play Store after they were found to be responsible for unwanted adverts and taking users to malicious websites. The apps would also remove their icon from the smartphone's home screen and apps folder, making it harder for the user to uninstall it. Researchers from WhiteOps found fraudulent code in a number of beauty camera applications, with names such as "Yoroko Camera," "Beauty Collage Lite," and "Rose Photo Editor & Selfie Beauty Camera". Many of these apps can be identified by a large number of installations in a short space of time, and a large amount of 5-star and 1-star ratings, resulting in a "U-shaped distribution." Altogether, these apps were downloaded more than 20 million times, 565,833 per app on average.