Virus Shield by Deviant Solutions - Scam

[El Presidente]

The #1 New Paid App In The Play Store Costs $4, Has Over 10,000 Downloads, A 4.7-Star Rating... And It's A Total Scam [Updated]

It was the top paid app on Play

I'm in the AV isn't needed camp, but as it was top of the charts, I figured some folks might have downloaded. Sorry if you were one of the unlucky ones.

 

[funkylogik]

Yeah I don't use em either man

 

[funkylogik]

Seems to have been taken down now

 

[El Presidente]

Google Issues Refunds And An Extra $5 Play Store Credit To Android Users Who Bought The Phony 'Virus Shield' App

Google is refunding and offering $5 worth of Play Store credit.

It's a shame that an app made it to the store in the first place, but this is a good apology if you ask me.

 

[funkylogik]

Yup. Well played Google. Did they make any kind of statement saying how they're gona stop it from happening again mate?

 

[El Presidente]

Not that I can find.

I wonder how big an issue it is, how many paid apps are bogus? This is definitely the highest profile case I've seen, but I've not seen this happen that often.

 

[mikedt]

In effect Virus Shield was really a placebo. Thing with an AV app can one actually tell if it's bogus and doesn't do anything at all. Apart from de-compiling it or actually testing it with some real malware. I'm in the do not use camp as well, and just careful about what I install.

 

[funkylogik]

Yup a Google employee decompiling and having a quick look at the code is what I had in mind but would that spoil the play store's open nature?
It probably would tbh and although I sympathise with the people who bought it and this might sound harsh, they were perfectly happy in their ignorance and maybe the shaming of that app did some good by making some people think about just how useful (or not) av apps are in Android and that they shouldn't rely on software to protect them.
Aren't they all just placebos relying on blind faith to make money? (devil's advocate here)