Researchers have discovered a new type of Android malware residing in thousands of apps, pretending to popular apps and websites such as Facebook, Candy Crush, and more.

Lookout Security, a mobile security firm, found these vulnerabilities in the aforementioned platforms that have more than a billion users across the globe.

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The company says it has observed more than 20,000 samples of this type of adware in the digital wild. The firm calls it a “trojanized adware,” involving applications that are repackaged with malware inside and then distributed through third-party app stores, according to Ubergizmo.

It works when the user installs an app from a third party store, and then app auto-roots gaining access to the entire phone's system. This creates an opening in Android's security, opening up more ways for hackers to launch their attacks.

Periodically from there, the app will serve ads, which generates money for the attacker. Trojanized adware will most likely replace the user’s device, which will cost him a of money.

The security experts generally agree that consumers are much safer sticking to the official market places such as Google Play Store, rather than downloading apps from third-party alternatives where these new strains appear to have lurked.

However, the experts revealed that users who had installed apps from Android's official app store Google Play were also affected, Washington Post reported.

Lookout Security officers stated that the highest detection rates are in the United States and Germany, as well as in other high Android market share countries like Russia, Brazil, and Mexico.

The company is expecting trojanized malware to continue to grow smartly over time, ZDNet learned.

TagsNewly Discovered Unremovable Android Malware Affects Thousands of Smartphones, Malware, Android malware, Unremovable Android Malware, Malware google apps, Google Play