How Fleeceware is used

January 12, 2023

What is Fleeceware?

Using applications on digital devices such as laptops, tablets, and smartphones hides some risks. We are referring to some apps that offer some usage for free for a certain free period but then charge.

Fleeceware is the term to describe apps that charge an exorbitant monthly fee after a short free trial period. For example, most apps include a short free trial. Still, these Fleeceware apps take advantage of users who need to become more familiar with how subscriptions work on their iPhone or Android device and charge higher fees.

We don’t face any problems while installing malware on our devices. For example, it could be a Trojan horse that steals passwords, spyware that collects all kinds of data, etc. As we know, when installing programs, we can find free and paid options. Now while installing paid software, we need to understand that the value is what it should be and that there is no scam type behind it. We have a wide range of capabilities in this matter. We can install a program with a fixed cost and pay an amount to download and install it. But it may also happen that we are charged monthly or yearly fees during the installation of some software. The usual thing is that we have this obvious, and everything is collected correctly under the circumstances.

Fleeceware is software that seeks to defraud the victim of abusive amounts. It usually hides misleading information about the terms we agree to.

Categories of Fleeceware

Research shows that the following categories of applications are most prone to polar movements:

Application of musical instruments. Palm readers. Image editors. Camera filters. QR code and PDF readers

Here is a short list of fleeceware apps available in the Play Store (but there are many more).

Fortune Mirror. Futurescope. Gametris Wallpaper. Hy G File Scanner. IV GO Calculator for Poke GO Genie. Live GO Map 2020 for Poke Radar. Montage. File Converter & JPEG Converter. Fontmoji. Recover deleted photos, Photo backup. Screen recorder: Game recorder. Search by Image: Image Search – Smart Search. Tell Short video

How can we protect ourselves from Fleeceware apps?

The problem is that these apps do not fall under the category of malware, as we said above, so they can catch the attention of Google Play Store or even Apple store controllers and be removed. They “play” by the rules of Google or Apple, the limits of legality and rely on the fact that almost no one reads the terms of use carefully.

Cancel these Terms

Of course, there is a reason to try a free trial app, and it is quite simple. For a limited time, you can check out the premium features and decide if they’re right for you. You have to decide if these features are worth the price of admission. If you don’t, you must cancel the trial before it ends, so you are not charged the monthly fee. However, app developers (trusted or not) and Apple and Google rely on us to forget the cancellation step.

Tips to protect yourself from fleeceware:

Ask someone for instructions if you need to learn how to unregister an app you uninstalled. It could also be possible to reinstall the app and have the app have an unregister button that you can use before removing it from your device.

Always read the fine print in the app description and the Terms and Conditions of that app.

Check if the app’s base charge is too high. You don’t need a paid lens app if you can get dozens of similar apps at no or very low cost.

If you want developers to stop charging you, don’t just remove the app from your device. unsubscribe instead

Always install/download apps from either Android Play Store or iOS AppStore. Not that these markets tell you about fleeceware, but because the risk is low.