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Chronicle Live
Chronicle Live
National
Aaron Morris

Google urges all Android phone users to uninstall app immediately

Google is urging anyone who has installed Pinduoduo to cull their devices of the Chinese shopping app, amid claims that experts have discovered malware present in some versions not listed on their official app store.

Google announced that it had suspended the widely-used app on the Google Play Store through 'security concerns' which are currently being investigated.

Pinduoduo provides discounts for online shoppers, should they team up and buy items in bulk with others - and although the system is alluring and unique, Google has urged anyone using the app to uninstall, should they not have downloaded it from Google's official catalogue.

Read more: Urgent WhatsApp scam warning issued to millions of users over devious messages

Google said: "Google Play Protect enforcement has been set to block installation attempts of these identified malicious apps. Users that have malicious versions of the app downloaded to their devices are warned and prompted to uninstall the app.”

And while the app is listed as suspended via Google Play, it's still available for use on Apple's iOS Store at the time of writing.

Pinduoduo refute the claims in a statement of their own, alleging that Google has not shared extra details with owners of the app other than that the current version is 'not compliant with Google's policy', reports the Manchester Evening News.

They said: "We strongly reject the speculation and accusation that Pinduoduo app is malicious just from a generic and non-conclusive response from Google."

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