Fake versions of Android Apps need to be uninstalled now before you lose bank account info

 If you installed two apps on your Android phone that you thought were messaging apps Signal and Telegram, delete them immediately if not sooner. Per BGR, the two apps are Signal Plus Messenger and FlyGram and have subsequently been removed from the Play Store, the Galaxy Store, and third-party app storefronts from where they were sideloaded (installed from third-party app storefronts) on Android phones.

Bogus versions of the Signal and Telegram messenger apps  were installed from the Play Store and Galaxy Store

But these apps wereIf you installed two apps on your Android phone that you thought were messaging apps Signal and Telegram, delete them immediately if not sooner. Per BGR, the two apps are Signal Plus Messenger and FlyGram and have subsequently been removed from the Play Store, the Galaxy Store, and third-party app storefronts from where they were sideloaded (installed from third-party app storefronts) on Android phones.

Bogus versions of the Signal and Telegram messenger apps  were installed from the Play Store and Galaxy Store

But these apps were not removed before Signal Plus Messenger was listed for nine months in the Play Store and it was installed over 100 times before Google yanked it out of its app storefront. FlyGram was created by the same developer and removed in 2021. Slovak cybersecurity firm ESET said that essentially these two apps were versions of Signal and Telegram that delivered malware to the phones that the apps were loaded on.

 not removed before Signal Plus Messenger was listed for nine months in the Play Store and it was installed over 100 times before Google yanked it out of its app storefront. FlyGram was created by the same developer and removed in 2021. Slovak cybersecurity firm ESET said that essentially these two apps were versions of Signal and Telegram that delivered malware to the phones that the apps were loaded on.

But just because apps are removed from the Play Store, if you were unlucky to have downloaded it on your phone, it would still be on your phone ready to create mischief with your personal data until removed from your own handset. Google labeled the pair as malicious apps capable of stealing your personal data. If you do uninstall these apps from your phone, make sure that before you do, unlink your Signal and Telegram accounts from them before you delete the malicious apps.

ESET researchers say that the fake Telegram app could snatch basic device information from a phone with the app installed along with sensitive data including the contact list, the phone user's Google accounts, and his/her call logs. The researchers also said that the fake Telegram app had a feature that would back up the app's data to a remote server controlled by the attacker.

The malicious Signal Plus app could be used to monitor both sent and received messages and even have these messages sent to a remote server from where they could be read. The malware was linked to a Chinese-based malware group called BadBazaar. Dedicated websites for both apps were created to make the bogus apps seem legitimate and included links to install the app to an Android device directly from the Google Play Store.