Google has announced the removal of the Pinduoduo app from the Play Store, labeling it as malware.
On Monday, the tech giant flagged several applications developed by the Chinese e-commerce giant as malware, notifying users who have installed these applications and suspending the company's official app.
In recent weeks, multiple Chinese security researchers accused Pinduoduo of developing Android apps containing malware designed to monitor users.
Google spokesperson Ed Fernandez stated that "non-Play versions of this app were found to contain malware through Google Play Protect enforcement", referring to applications not available on Google Play.
Google has set up its Android security mechanism, Google Play Protect, to prevent users from installing these malicious applications and warns those who have already installed them to uninstall them.
Fernandez added that "for safety reasons, we will continue to investigate" and that Google has suspended Pinduoduo's official app on the Play Store.
A security researcher who requested anonymity informed TechCrunch of the allegations against these apps and revealed that they also analyzed them, discovering several zero-day vulnerabilities exploited to attack their users.