16 Popular Android Apps Are Secretly Killing Your Battery, So Uninstall Them Quickly

We often think about worst-case scenarios when it comes to malware — stolen identities, emptied bank accounts or leaked personal data — the ambitions of the bad actors behind the software aren’t always so great. Sometimes all malware wants to do is make its creator a few bucks. Of course, they’re still malicious, and now a new slate of Android apps with trojans has been discovered in the Google Play store.

McAfee’s Mobile Research Group recently identified 16 Android apps With clicker trojans on Google Play. Android users downloaded the infected apps more than 20 million times before Google removed them from the store. Unfortunately, just because you can’t get apps anymore doesn’t mean you don’t have them on your phone or tablet.

McAfee researchers explain that the malicious code is hidden in a number of popular utilities such as flashlights, task managers and QR readers.

Once installed, the malware starts crawling websites in the background without the user’s knowledge to generate fake views and clicks. Not only are you lining the pockets of ad fraudsters, but the impact on your device can be significant.

While your phone is browsing websites in the background, battery life will decrease as if you were browsing by yourself. If you have any weird apps on your phone and the battery life isn’t what it used to be, now you might know why.

Needless to say, you should uninstall any apps that use your phone as a click farm. The full list of Android trojans found by McAfee researchers: