"Serious financial pain awaits you in your future" This is probably the most appropriate prediction for a fortune-telling app for Android phones, which automatically charges $6999 per week ($3,63948 per year) after the free trial ends, even if you delete the app

Yes, the cesspool that is the Google Play Store just got worse: Sophos security researchers exposed a "Fleeceware" app that more than 600 million Android users have downloaded

Fleeceware is an app that continues to "exploit the app's trial mechanism to charge users after they uninstall the app" According to Sophos, apps under 25 range from fortune telling, instant messaging, video editors, beauty apps, etc

You may also be surprised to learn that many of these apps are overcharged and have poor user reviews, and many did not work as advertised

Worst of all, some consumers claim that they unsubscribed according to the rules of the subscription model, but were charged anyway

One pesky screen recorder app prompts users to pay monthly on one screen and weekly on another This is presumably a sign not to proceed

Two major takeaways from the Sophos report are that uninstalling the app does not cancel the trial and "strictly avoid" installing this type of free trial app, which incurs subscription fees after the trial ends

This confusion follows yet another Google Play Store gem, where adware-ridden apps hit 550,000 Android devices These 17 apps snuck in tons of ads, including "horrible intrusive ad pop-ups"

The ads were not only annoying, but caused serious battery drain on the device

The people who run the Google Play store have New Year's resolutions