It’s common for reviews to have either a 1- or 5-star review, but nothing in between (typically, the apps have a low-star rating overall). Fraudsters expect the user to forget about the installed application and its short trial, or fail to notice the real subscription cost. After that, the application will automatically and subtly begin charging excessive costs, up to $30 per week. What is fleeceware?įleeceware is a relatively new category of cybercrime that offers users an attractive service, usually for a short free trial period of a few days. Avast has reported seven of these apps to Google, but as of this publication, they are all still active.

These so-called “fleeceware” applications offer new skins, colorful wallpapers, or modifications for the game, but disproportionately charge users hundreds of dollars per month.

Our team has identified a wave of malicious mobile applications in the Google Play Store targeting gamers, particularly fans of the popular Minecraft video game. These scammy apps fool users into spending upwards of hundreds of dollars per month

Play store minecraft 2020