Know more about the Android apps in India that Google has removed for spying on users.

There have been serious concerns about predatory lending apps in India and other countries, forcing Google to take drastic measures to remove them from the Play Store to prevent millions from accidentally downloading the apps and exposing them to potential extortion and other abuses.

Now, a new security report says that Google has been forced to remove several apps that have been downloaded by more than 12 million across the world, including India. These Android apps were disguised as loan apps on the Play Store, but their fraudulent nature carries the risk of stealing or spying on users through their smartphones, hence the name SpyLoan apps.

ESET Research’s report details the details of these apps, how they were able to affect users and what information they had.

These malicious apps take advantage of users’ trust in legitimate loan providers by using sophisticated techniques to defraud people and steal a wide range of personal information, said Lukas Stefanko of ESET Research, who discovered these spy loan apps.

The people operating these spy apps were from India, Pakistan, Peru, Thailand, Egypt and Kenya, among others. The main reason for the rise of these loan applications is that many people need quick loans without having to entertain bank related procedures.

All they have to do is download the loan application X, give the application all kinds of access rights on the phone, and the loan is acknowledged, paid. But what people don’t realize is that allowing the app gives it unlimited access to your phone, putting them at the mercy of these loan predators.

Apps like these have proven their harmful nature as many people have reportedly taken their own lives due to pressure from these companies to pay off loans quickly and at higher than usual interest rates.

Google claims that it has made it its mission to end the misery of these predatory apps that even spy on users. More than 200 such apps have been removed from the Play Store, but more than 12 million downloads have already been registered, so the challenge is to get people out of the trap set by these dangerous apps.