Yesterday, android users abruptly began experiencing an issue: the first known reports came from Japan, as users asked “aqua mail 勝手に”, roughly translated as “Aqua Mail installed itself without permission.” In reality, they found a suspicious shortcut of the Aqua Mail e-mail app on their screens.
Up until now the issue has been detected in over 36 different countries.
At this point I should say that AquaMail is a popular e-mail app with a rating of over 4 on the app store, and is used by hundreds of thousands across the globe. It is also here that I should mention the shortcut that users found on their screens doesn’t open the AquaMail app. Rather, it leads to the app store. Confused? Don’t be. It turns out the predominant reason for this to happen is something called “Office Suite.”
Office Suite is considered one of the most widely used apps on the internet. As the name suggests, it brings some very needed and neat features, useful to anyone who works in an office and needs to do something on their phone. Users who have installed it began receiving the shortcuts in what can be described as rude advertising. Apparently, the entire idea is to promote Aqua Mail by creating a shortcut and prompting you to install it.
Confused users flooded forums, asking what the heck is happening to their devices. Many feared malware or a virus. Once it was discovered the Office Suite did this, many felt betrayed and (definitely) rightfully disturbed by this marketing method.
What happened is worrying. From the dawn of time, computer marketing has been plagued by freeware bundling – the act of putting an advertising software with a free, often very useful program. The hard truth is that whenever there is free software involved, the people who crated it have to somehow make money.
Aqua Mail “Virus” Removal
We are sending you to another page with a removal guide that is regularly updated to counter the latest tricks malware creators use. It will show you how to:
1. Locate and clean up your phone’s apps if they are infected.
2. Find browser extensions related to the threat and how to remove them.
3. Ensure your passwords were not stolen or tampered with.
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