Apps claiming to disclose another person’s name historical past might sound tempting on paper, however a brand new report suggests tens of millions of Android customers might have been scammed with guarantees of showing particulars about individuals who known as them. The report by safety analysis agency ESET has revealed that 28 rip-off Android apps accessible via the Google Play Retailer have been downloaded greater than 7.3 million instances and tricked customers into paying for fabricated knowledge.
How did 28 Android apps rip-off customers?
The apps, collectively named “CallPhantom” by researchers, falsely claimed that they may retrieve personal name logs, SMS information, and even WhatsApp name historical past for any telephone quantity entered by the person. In actuality, the apps merely generated faux knowledge and requested customers to pay subscriptions to unlock the fabricated “outcomes”.
Based on ESET, the investigation started after researchers noticed a Reddit put up discussing an app known as “Name Historical past of Any Quantity”. The app, revealed underneath the developer identify “Indian gov.in”, claimed that it might retrieve the decision historical past of any telephone quantity provided by the person.
Not solely was the app not linked to the Indian authorities, the researchers additionally discovered that the decision historical past knowledge offered by the app was fully fabricated. The app as a substitute generated random telephone numbers and paired them with hardcoded names, name durations, and timestamps embedded immediately contained in the app’s code.
Victims have been then proven these faux name information, however solely after being prompted to pay for a subscription.
The researchers later found 27 extra apps working in an identical method on the Play Retailer. ESET mentioned it reported the apps to Google on December 16, 2025, after which all of them have been faraway from the platform.
What’s much more worrying is that the marketing campaign primarily focused customers in India and different Asia-Pacific areas. Many of those apps additionally got here with India’s +91 nation code preselected and assist for UPI funds.
Subscription costs for these apps diverse broadly, with a few of them charging as a lot as $80 for yearly plans, whereas lower-tier subscriptions averaged round €5.