22 apps kicked from Android Market over premium SMS toll fraud

Lookout Mobile Security has identified a new series of Android apps with yet another type of malware, this time in form of premium SMS toll fraud. Called RuFraud, these applications often disguised themselves as horoscope apps, wallpaper apps for Twilight, and/or free versions of popular games. Lookout notified Google who promptly pulled the dirty apps and will continue to monitor for any new instances.

Totaling 22 apps in all, these affected European users living in Russia, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia, Czech Republic, Poland, Kazakhstan, Belarus, Latvia, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Ukraine, Estonia as well as Great Britain, Italy, Israel, France, and Germany. Lookout has issued an update on their end to protect against the RuFraud and says that only a few instances of each were able to affect users.

Source: Androidguys