Warning over Android emoji app that steals your cash after scammers siphon £14m from unsuspecting users

A POPULAR emoji app has been fraudulently charging unlucky Android users.
Emoji keyboard ai.type has been downloaded by at least 40 million people and a recent investigation has found they may have been charged as much as $18million (£14million) in bogus fees.
A Upstream Systems has revealed that malicious code was slipped into the popular Android keyboard.
The Upstream Systems Secure-D research team said: "The app has been delivering millions of invisible ads and fake clicks, while delivering genuine user data about real views, clicks and purchases to ad networks.
"Ai.type carries out some of its activity hiding under other identities, including disguising itself to spoof popular apps such as Soundcloud."
The app could be downloaded from the Google Play Store but has since been removed.
It still appears to be available on the App Store but the report does not mention iPhone users being affected.
Secure-D claims the app pitches itself as a customisable emoji keyboard but contains hidden code that sneakily makes premium content purchases without user permission or knowledge.
The app was deleted from the Google Play Store in June but is still thought to be on a lot of phones.
Most of the fraudulent charges observed in the investigation occurred in July after the app had been removed from the Play Store.
This suggests the people behind the malware decided to try and get as much money as possible while they still could.
Upstream recommends anyone with the app should delete it and check their phone for any suspicious activity.
As it's no longer in the Play Store there is no risk of new infections from there.
However, if you see the keyboard on a third-party service then you are advised not to download it.
We have reached out to ai.type for comment.
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Do you use emoji keyboard apps? Let us know in the comments...
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