The Virus Shield app was nothing more than an icon that changed shape when tapped, but briefly topped the Google Play charts.


Google will refund every Android user who downloaded a bogus virus scanning app which did nothing.

The scanner was nothing more than an icon that changed shape when a user tapped it, but briefly topped the charts in the Google Play store.

Google is now giving refunds to people who bought the app, and offering a $5 (£2.97) Google Play store credit.

Android app directory AppBrian.com estimated the total number of downloads hit 30,000.

This means the move by Google will cost around $270,000 (£160,000).

Google sent a message to customers who had bought the app, saying: "This app made the false claim that it provided one-click virus protection; in reality, it did not.

"Google Play's policies strictly prohibit false claims like these, and in light of this, we're refunding you for your Virus Shield purchase."

The app's creators insisted they never meant to scam customers, saying the wrong version of its app was uploaded to Google's store by mistake.

The app was advertised as ad-free one-click protection from malware.