Antivirus maker Trend Micro has discovered nine Google Play Store apps loaded with adware and malware designed to secretly hijack your digital life. In total, these nine apps have been installed more than 470,000 times.

Ars Technica reports that most of the malicious apps were posted as system optimizers or speed boosters. According to Trend Micro, all have been removed from Google Play, but you want to remove any you may have on your phone.

Here is the list:

These apps are designed to secretly turn your phone into a zombie to perform tasks for the benefit of adware and sometimes malware-laden hackers and scammers.

The apps do their evil deeds by connecting to servers and downloading over 3,000 types of malware. It also logs into Google and Facebook accounts and, rather than hijacking accounts, displays legitimate ads to simulate clicks, runs reward apps from ad networks, posts fake reviews, disables Play Protect, and other tasks.

The last one is theoretically the most dangerous, allowing other, more malicious programs to be installed without detection.

According to Trend Micro, the majority of infections occur in Japan, where 48,557 have been detected. Taiwan, the United States (2,497 cases), Israel, India, and other countries have also been affected. This adware/malware campaign has been in place since at least 2017.

Once infected, you can try using one of the best Android antivirus apps to get rid of them and any malware they may have put on your device.

However, it is best to completely erase the device and start fresh. Also, don't forget to check the list of connected apps in your Google and Facebook accounts.

As for Google, we can only hope that they will fix their broken Play Store protection system.