A new report from Avast has revealed that popular Android apps on Google Play Store are infected with adware. The security firm has stated that several affected apps on the Play Store have already been downloaded millions of times.
The most popular of the adware affected apps is a card game called Durak, which has been downloaded between 5-10 million times. Other affected apps include an IQ test app, which has received between 1 and 5 million installs and a Russian history app, which has been installed between 10,000 and 50,000 times. These apps are said to wait up to 30 days before they start displaying advertisements warning about security risks and other problems whenever an Android device is unlocked.
The ads does not begin to appear until you have rebooted your device at least once afterwards these ads will appear each time the end user unlocks their phone. The ads prompts consumers to visit malicious websites, download security software that will not make the warnings disappear, or find new apps from a third-party store. Users need to be careful and alert at the time of downloading apps from Play Store as even apps with four or five star ratings can carry malware or adware.