Google will refund customers who bought the fake mobile security app Virus Shield, as well as gifting them $5 credit for Google Play.
In an email to customers the search company said the $3.99 would be back in their bank accounts within two weeks, citing the app’s false promise to provide "one-click virus protection".
The fraudulent nature of the app was exposed by Android Police after they decompiled the code and posted it on their website. By that point it had been downloaded over 30,000 times, with thousands of recommendations and reviews forcing it to the top of the new paid app chart.
Though the app claimed to offer protection from viruses it merely change an icon from a cross to a tick, making the user believe their mobile was secure.
It was developed by Jesse Carter, a 17-year-old Texan whose company is called Deviant Solutions, according to Daily Tech. Talking to the Guardian, Carter said that an incorrect version of the app was uploaded by one of their developers.
He insisted that he had taken no earnings, a plausible claim given that Google closed the developer account down before the date it was due to process payments. Given the number of downloads, the revenue from the app is likely to be above $100,000.
Carter added: "We may possibly upload the intended version of the app for free to everyone."
