Millions of Indians downloaded these 28 scam Android apps promising WhatsApp and call records, Google takes action

Apps claiming to reveal someone else’s call history may sound tempting on paper, but a new report suggests millions of Android users may have been scammed with promises of revealing details about people who called them. The report by security research firm ESET has revealed that 28 scam Android apps available through the Google Play Store were downloaded more than 7.3 million times and tricked users into paying for fabricated data.

How did 28 Android apps scam users?

The apps, collectively named “CallPhantom” by researchers, falsely claimed that they could retrieve private call logs, SMS records, and even WhatsApp call history for any phone number entered by the user. In reality, the apps simply generated fake data and asked users to pay subscriptions to unlock the fabricated “results”.

According to ESET, the investigation began after researchers spotted a Reddit post discussing an app called “Call History of Any Number”. The app, published under the developer name “Indian gov.in”, claimed that it could retrieve the call history of any phone number supplied by the user.

Not only was the app not linked to the Indian government, the researchers also found that the call history data provided by the app was entirely fabricated. The app instead generated random phone numbers and paired them with hardcoded names, call durations, and timestamps embedded directly inside the app’s code.

Victims were then shown these fake call records, but only after being prompted to pay for a subscription.

The researchers later discovered 27 more apps operating in a similar manner on the Play Store. ESET said it reported the apps to Google on December 16, 2025, after which all of them were removed from the platform.

What's even more worrying is that the campaign primarily targeted users in India and other Asia-Pacific regions. Many of these apps also came with India’s +91 country code preselected and support for UPI payments.

Subscription prices for these apps varied widely, with some of them charging as much as $80 for yearly plans, while lower-tier subscriptions averaged around €5.