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**Harsha** · (This post was last modified: 08-23-2021 09:27 AM by Harsha.)

Cryptocurrency mining has gained attention of everyone recently and many are curious about the new digital currency and want to know more about it.

However, many malicious people like the hackers and cyber criminals are using taking this opportunities to trick netizens into installing malicious apps on their smartphones containing dangerous malware and adware.

Recently Google identified some of these malicious apps and advised users to uninstall these apps immediately.

Google has removed as many as 8 dangerous apps from Play Store that were disguised as cryptocurrency mining apps following a report from Security firm Trend Micro.

These apps lure innocent users by promises of big profits with investing a little money.

Trend Micro has revealed that these eight malicious apps were tricking victims into watching ads, paying for subscription services that have an average monthly fee of $15 ( ₹1,115 approx.)

Apart from this users are also paying for increased mining capabilities without getting anything in return.

So, if you have already downloaded these eight apps then delete them from your phone immediately.

The 8 malicious apps are listed below:

1. BitFunds – Crypto Cloud Mining
2. Bitcoin Miner – Cloud Mining
3. Bitcoin (BTC) – Pool Mining Cloud Wallet
4. Crypto Holic – Bitcoin Cloud Mining
5. Daily Bitcoin Rewards – Cloud Based Mining System
6. Bitcoin 2021
7. MineBit Pro – Crypto Cloud Mining & btc miner
8. Ethereum (ETH) – Pool Mining Cloud

As per the reports of the Security firm, two of 8 apps are paid apps which needs to be purchased by users.

To download Crypto Holic – Bitcoin Cloud Mining, users had to pay $12.99 (around Rs 966) While they needed to pay $5.99 ( around Rs 445) to download the Daily Bitcoin Rewards – Cloud Based Mining System.

Trend Micro has further added that beside these apps, more than 120 fake cryptocurrency mining apps are still available online.

How to recognise a fake cryptomining app:

1. You should read the apps reviews carefully as fake apps will receive numerous 5-star reviews once they are released publicly.
2. As per the security firm if an app accepts an invalid wallet address and performs follow-up operations, then it could be a fake app.
3. Another way to know whther the app you are using is genuine or fake is by restarting the device while the app is running. If the app stops working in the background after the device is restarted then it could be fake.
4. The firm said if the app is accepting free withdrawals then it could be fake as the transfer of cryptocurrency requires a handling fee, which is relatively high compared to what is typically made from cloud mining.