New Android threat is targeting your banking apps causing ‘incredible damage’ to phones and stealing your personal info

A NEW piece of malware is reportedly targeting online banking apps and causing “incredible damage” to Android phones, experts say.

The threat, known as S.O.V.A, was only discovered by researchers last month.

Getty – ContributorAndroid users are being targeted by a newly-discovered piece of malware[/caption]

Users in the US, UK, and across Europe have all been affected by the trojan.

Hackers are trying to steal personal information through keylogging attacks and manipulating notifications.

Attackers also try to perform cookie theft and could end up stealing users’ banking details and passwords, The Daily Express reports.

Sometimes, users allow websites to store their personal information, so they do not have to keep logging in repeatedly.

Security experts are not surprised by the development of this trojan because of the shift to online banking in recent years.

Sova means “owl” in Russian and researchers think the name was chosen because of the bird’s ability to stalk prey.

Researchers at Threat Fabric say: “S.O.V.A. is still a project in its infancy, and now provides the same basic features as most other modern Android banking malware.”

Android users are encouraged to download apps from the Google Play Store and not via unfamiliar websites.

They have been warned not to click on any links that may appear in text messages.

Android users were previously told that some gaming and lifestyle apps may expose personal information, including passwords.

Experts think that almost 20,000 apps on the marketplace could be putting Americans at risk.

Researchers at Avast have found the bug in different app categories such as gaming and lifestyle.

The security flaw has also been found in some mail applications.

The bug is reportedly being caused by developers who create apps using the Firebase database.

MALWARE SCAMS

Malware researcher Vladimir Martyanov, of Avast, warned that the personal information of up to 10 percent of Firebase users could be at risk.

Americans have been notified about a FluBot scam that sees users receive a malicious message disguised as a text about a missed delivery.

Victims get a message supposedly from a courier service, which includes a link to “rearrange delivery”.

But after clicking on the link, they are prompted to download a phishing app that has FluBot embedded.

Cyber experts have also told users to delete several cryptocurrency apps after they were branded “malicious”.

Users should remove apps including Bitcoin Miner – Cloud Mining, Ethereum – Pool Mining Cloud, Bitcoin 2021, and Crypto Holic – Bitcoin Cloud Mining.

The cryptocurrency apps are fake and trick victims into watching ads and paying money, according to TrendMicro.

They falsely claim that they can make users a huge profit.

Reports of crypto-fuelled scams are more prominent as digital currencies such as Bitcoin rise in popularity.

Nearly 7,000 people have reported losses of more than $80million in the US as a result of scams since last October, according to data from The Federal Trade Commission (FTC).

GettyHackers are trying to infect phones by sending malicious texts disguised as delivery notifications[/caption]