ESET Exposes CallPhantom Scam: 28 Fake Call‑History Apps With 7.3M Downloads Removed From Google Play

• ESET identified and reported 28 separate CallPhantom apps on Google Play, cumulatively downloaded more than 7.3 million times.
• 53.7% of all CallPhantom detections worldwide were found in India.Some CallPhantom apps sidestep Google Play’s official billing system, complicating victims’ refund efforts.

ESET researchers have uncovered fraudulent apps on Google Play that claim to provide the call history “for any number.” The offending apps, which ESET named CallPhantom based on their false claims, purport to provide access to call histories, SMS records, and even WhatsApp call logs for any phone number. To unlock this supposed feature, users are asked to pay — but all they get in return is randomly generated data. ESET’s investigation identified 28 such fraudulent apps, cumulatively downloaded more than 7.3 million times. As an App Defense Alliance partner, we reported our findings to Google, which removed all of the apps identified in this report from Google Play.

The CallPhantom apps mainly targeted Android users in India. Many of the apps came with India’s +91 country code preselected, and support UPI, a payment system used primarily in India. 53.7% of all CallPhantom detections worldwide were found in India.

In November 2025, we came across a Reddit post discussing an app named Call History of Any Number, found on Google Play. Unsurprisingly, our analysis showed that the ‘call history’ data provided by this app is entirely fabricated — the app generates random phone numbers and matches them with fixed names, call times, and call durations, which were embedded directly in the code, says ESET researcher Lukáš Štefanko, who uncovered the CallPhantom fraud.

In general, CallPhantom apps have a simple user interface and do not request any intrusive or sensitive permissions — they don’t need to. Coincidentally, they do not contain any functionality capable of retrieving actual call, SMS, or WhatsApp data.

In the CallPhantom apps ESET analyzed, researchers saw three different payment methods used, two of which are in violation of Google Play’s payments policy. Some of the apps relied on subscriptions via Google Play’s official billing system. Others relied on payments via a third party; in some cases, payment card checkout forms were included directly in the CallPhantom apps.

The fees requested for the fake service differ widely across the apps. The apps also appear to offer different subscription packages, such as weekly, monthly, or yearly services, with the highest requested price sitting at US$80. For the lowest “subscription tier,” the average requested price was €5.

In general, subscriptions purchased through the official Google Play billing system can be canceled. For the 28 apps described in this blog post, existing subscriptions were canceled when the apps were removed from Google Play. In some cases, refunds for Google Play purchases are possible.

If the purchase was made outside of Google Play — for example, by entering payment card details inside the app or by paying via third-party services — then Google cannot cancel the subscription or issue a refund, and users have to contact their payment provider.

For more details about CallPhantom, check out the latest ESET Research blog post, “Fake call logs, real payments: How CallPhantom tricks Android users,” on WeLiveSecurity.com. Make sure to follow ESET Research on BlueSky, and Mastodon for the latest news from ESET Research.

DMI Finance Launches Personal Loan Product on Google Pay

DMI Finance to provide seamless digital personal loans to Google Pay users

DMI Finance Private Limited (“DMI”) today announced the launch of a personal loan product on Google Pay to make reliable credit accessible for pre-qualified users of Google Pay.

This product leverages the dual advantages of Google Pay’s customer experience and the digital loan disbursal process of DMI and will also help bring new-to-credit users into the ambit. Eligible users are pre-qualified using criteria set by DMI Finance and the product offer is made available to them via Google Pay. These users will have their application processed in near real-time with access to the money in their bank accounts.

This launch with Google Pay of an integrated, personal loan journey for its users continues DMI’s focus on building innovative digital financial products in partnership with leading players in the digital finance ecosystem.

The program will disburse up to INR 1 Lakh per loan which would be repayable over a maximum of 36 months. This partnership is being launched over 15K+ pin codes.

Shivashish Chatterjee, Co-founder and Joint MD, DMI Finance, said: “We are excited to make our Personal Loan product available on Google Pay in India. At DMI, we focus on working with truly world-class collaborators to leverage our combined strengths to deliver the best possible digital credit experience to a rapidly growing customer set. Our teams have worked closely together to bring transparent and seamless credit to millions of Google Pay users. We look forward to scaling this new partnership in the years to come and make the promise of financial inclusion a reality for many millions more.”

Sajith Sivanandan, Business Head, Payments and NBU, Google APAC, LatAm, Africa and EMEA, said: "Simplified access to reliable credit is critical to economic revival as we emerge from the difficulties posed by the pandemic, and experiences that can make this available to them within a few taps on their mobile phones will offer incredible convenience. We are very excited to collaborate with DMI Finance to make this possible for Google Pay users, as it brings to life the promise of financial inclusion enabled by technology."

About DMI Finance

Founded in 2008 and supported by a deeply experienced team across 40 offices in India, DMI is a pan-India credit platform with core businesses in digital consumer and MSME finance, housing finance, wholesale finance, and asset management. It is a technology-first lender with class-leading digital finance initiatives. It is supported by global institutional investors, strategic family offices, leading banks, and public market creditors in India. For more details, please visit www.dmifinance.in.

About Google

Google's mission is to organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful. Through products and platforms like Search, Maps, Gmail, Android, Google Play, Chrome and YouTube, Google plays a meaningful role in the daily lives of billions of people and has become one of the most widely-known companies in the world. Google is a subsidiary of Alphabet Inc.

Google Pay Integrates Wise To Allow Remittance from U.S. To India and Singapore

Google Pay has integrated Wise (Formerly TransferWise) platform, allowing users to send money to their friends within the Google Pay app and access Wise’s services.

This will allow Google Pay users in the US to send money to users in India and Singapore. For new customers, Wise said it will make the first transfer free on transactions up to US$500 until June 16.

Google Pay and Wise – the beginning of a beautiful friendship 👫

Our ⚡️-fast, low-cost transfers are now live right inside the @GooglePay app for anyone in the US sending money to GPay users in India and Singapore.

Check it out: https://t.co/S5zUAwlS9F pic.twitter.com/G5CBssEvEG

— Wise (ex-TransferWise) (@Wise) May 11, 2021

Starting from 11 Mau, all Android and iOS Google Pay users in the US can send money to another Google Pay user in India or Singapore. Later this year, Wise will work with Google to expand the integration and allow US Google Pay users to pay friends and family in the 80+ countries that Wise already sends to, announced Wise.

The Wise platform enables banks, businesses, and software companies to tap into the startup’s network, giving them and their customers an easier avenue for making international payments. According to Wise, its technology is now being used by banks and businesses in over 10 markets.

London-based fintech company Wise was founded in 2011, by Estonia-based Kristo Käärmann and Taavet Hinrikus. Tavet was the first employee at Skype while Kristo worked for Deloitte.