Authorities in Belgium warned the public last Friday that the
infamous Joker Virus was detected in eight play Store applications which Google
suppressed.

“This malicious program has been detected in eight Play
Store applications that Google has suppressed. You risk a big surprise at the
end of the month in your bank account or on your credit card,” Belgium Police
mentioned in the statement.

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The notorious Joker virus was first discovered in various
apps on Google Play in 2017.

The Joker virus is part of the Bread malware family,
which targets Android-based mobile devices. Without the user’s awareness, it
targets bills and approves activities.

It can let owners of the infected device subscribe to paid services without their
authorization, generally the most costly or Premium services. The majority of
the time, victims are only aware of the theft after thoroughly reviewing their
account statements.

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The Joker virus may access text messages, contacts, and
other information on an infected smartphone, according to experts at Quick Heal
Security Lab.

Eight questionable apps have already been deleted from
the Google Play Store. Auxiliary Message, Element Scanner, Fast Magic SMS, Free
CamScanner, Go Messages, Super Message, Super SMS, and Travel Wallpapers are
among them

Security firm Zscaler, on the other hand, estimates that
16 Google Play applications contain harmful code: Private SMS, Hummingbird PDF
Converter – Photo to PDF, Style Photo Collage, Talent Photo Editor – Blur
focus, Paper Doc Scanner, All Good PDF Scanner, Care Message, Part Message,
Blue Scanner, Direct Messenger, One Sentence Translator – Multifunctional
Translator, Mint Leaf Message-Your Private Message, Unique Keyboard – Fancy
Fonts & Free Emoticons, Tangram App Lock, Desire Translate, Tangram
App.

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The police say
Google has since deleted the infectious apps from the Play Store but warned
Belgium citizens that if they had downloaded one of them already, to delete it
as soon as possible.

According to the authorities, Google has already removed the
infected applications from the Play Store, but residents in Belgium should
delete them as soon as possible if they have downloaded any.