Apps from Play Store mine litecoins and dogecoins while charging device

Various apps from the Play Store use users’ devices to mine cryptocurrencies such as litecoins and dogecoins. This happens when the user charges the device, so that the power consumption should be less noticeable.

The relevant apps are still in the Play Store and are called Songs and Prized, reports security company Trend Micro. The most downloaded apps of those are Songs, which has had between one and five million downloads, according to the Play Store. The app is still online, the security company says it has informed Google.

Users might find that an app is using their phone or tablet for mining if it charges slowly and gets very hot while charging; the app puts the processor to work. According to Trend Micro, that mining does not make much sense: smartphone processors are not nearly powerful enough to mine effectively.

The security company does not specify how these apps work. Previous apps that did the same but weren’t in the Play Store would have the apps download a file with directions on how to find the correct pool. It is estimated that the malicious parties have been able to mine the necessary coins with these apps despite the limited computing power of phones.

The code for mining Dogecoins in one of the mentioned apps