Google Play Store takes off CamScanner app from its platform

Hyderabad: One more app from the Google Play Store has been weeded out due to privacy concerns. The app, CamScanner, got booted out from the Play Store after it was found to contain malware that could seed ads and trigger the users into signing up for paid services. In case you are using this app to scan important photos and documents from your android phones, delete it as soon as possible.

The reason behind this move from Play Store is that the latest version of CamScanner app carries a malicious Trojan-Dropper module, commonly referred to as “Trojan-Dropper.AndroidOS.Necro.n.” This was observed previously in some of the Chinese mobile apps as well. The issue with this module is that it extracts and runs another malicious module from one encrypted file from the app's resources.

After the latest version of CamScanner is downloaded, it would depend on how a malicious party intends to exploit these modules. Having said that, one of the possible scenarios is that it can show intrusive ads and prompt users to sign up for paid services.

Since CamScanner has over 100 million downloads on Google Play Store, several users came across the fishy behaviour and posted negative reviews. With the impact of reviews regarding the sketchy action of the app, Google Play Store moderators alerted and removed promptly the app from their platform.