Bitdefender’s security researchers have identified a large-scale ad fraud campaign that deployed hundreds of malicious apps in the Google Play Store, resulting in more than 60 million downloads total. The apps display out-of-context ads and even try to persuade victims to give away credentials and credit card information in phishing attacks.

The Google Play Store is often targeted by cybercriminals trying to upload malicious apps by bypassing existing protections. Google purges the store of suc