Huawei, Vivo Phones Tag Google App As TrojanSMSPA Malware

Huawei, Honor and Vivo smartphones and tablets are displaying strange "Security Threat" alerts suggesting you remove the Google app and warning that "TrojanSMS-PA" has been detected as malware.

These security alerts, which appear to be false positives, warn that "immediate removal is recommended" as the application is now considered high-risk, as evidenced by a subsequent warning from the BleepingComputer device.

When users click the View Details button, a warning appears indicating that an app has been detected sending hidden text messages.

“This app has been found to encourage users to send SMS messages privately, encourage users to pay for adult content, download/install apps privately, or steal personal information, which may result in property damage and leakage of sensitive information.” , reads security information. System alert.

“We recommend immediate removal.”

This issue has been reported by several users on Google support forums (Vivo post), Reddit (Vivo thread), Huawei forums, and other Android communities.

BleepingComputer contacted Google to determine whether the latest app update caused a sudden spike in malware alerts, but a spokesperson said Google Play Protect does not trigger alerts.

“This security notice was not generated by Google Play Protect and appears to come from a device that is not Play Protect certified and does not have access to official downloads of Google's core apps from Play. For more information, we recommend contacting your device manufacturer. Google Play is the only app store where you can officially download the best Android apps from Google Play. All Google apps undergo the same rigorous testing as other apps on Google Play. These tests are designed to ensure the safety and quality of applications. Google Standards." - Google Representative.

BleepingComputer independently confirmed that these alerts were displayed on a Huawei device with Google's basic apps pre-installed (pre-locked) and without any additional apps.

Therefore, Google's explanations do not accurately reflect the types of Android devices that receive these warnings.

BleepingComputer has confirmed that these alerts are appearing in the "Huawei Optimizer" app on Huawei devices. However, it is unclear which apps display alerts for Vivo or Honor phones.

If you haven't downloaded the Google app on your Huawei, Vivo or Honor phone, you can ignore the warning and continue.

Additionally, while these alerts are most likely false positives, there has been no official comment from device manufacturers confirming this.

The suggested solution to disable the false alarm is to go to Settings > Apps > Enhancer > App Info > Storage > Clear Cache/Clear Data and then reboot your device.

If this doesn't help, try uninstalling and reinstalling the Huawei Optimizer app.

This action should update the old signature database to remove incorrect false positives.

BleepingComputer has also reached out to Huawei and Vivo for comment, but we are yet to hear from Chinese phone makers.

How to remove viruses from VIVO phone: run an antivirus scan