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Virus Shield, the popular anti-virus app for Android, has been found to be a scam. In response to the discovery, Google has removed the... Scam App Virus Shield For Android Removed From Play Store

Virus Shield, the popular anti-virus app for Android, has been found to be a scam. In response to the discovery, Google has removed the bogus app from its Play Store. The app had previously held the top spot in the Play Store’s apps chart but has since been labelled “a complete and total scam” by Android Police. The report went as far to say:

“We don’t mean in the slightly skeevy way that some anti-virus and general security software overstates danger and its own necessity. We mean it’s literally a fake security app: the only thing that it does is change from an ‘X’ image to a ‘check image after a single tap.’ That’s all.”

Virus Shield and Google Play

Deviant Solutions, Virus Shield’s developer, has disappeared without a trace. Yet with a little digging, it has been revealed that the developer’s email address, [email protected] was actually a banned account at Synthe.org, with the user, ‘InceptionDeviant’, being banned for conning people out of gaming goods.

The scam has fuelled claims that Google does not do enough to vet its apps for the Play Store. It is shocking that the $4 app, that received a 4.7-star rating was even able to make it to the online marketplace, where it was downloaded over 10,000 times in the two weeks that it was available.

It was only just recently that Google made changes to its Google Play Developer Program Policy, in a bid to protect its users but unfortunately the updated policies did not protect against the effectiveness of apps.

Let us know if you have been affected by the Android app scam either in the comments, on Facebook or on Twitter.

[Image via regeneracion]

SOURCE: http://www.androidpolice.com/2014/04/06/the-1-new-paid-app-in-the-play-store-costs-4-has-over-10000-downloads-a-4-7-star-rating-and-its-a-total-scam/