Yes—an app can scan text in photos if it has access to your photo library. In a February 2025 report, Kaspersky said it found SparkCat, an OCR-based Trojan, inside apps distributed through Apple’s App Store, Google Play and unofficial channels. It searched images for cryptocurrency wallet recovery phrases and could also target other sensitive text. The reported apps were removed from the two stores in February 2025; that historical action does not establish whether later variants appeared.
How SparkCat tried to steal information from photos
Kaspersky said SparkCat had been active since at least March 2024. Rather than appearing as a separate app labeled spyware, the malware was embedded in apps presented as legitimate services or other lures, including examples in food delivery, messaging, AI assistance and cryptocurrency-related categories.
In some app contexts, SparkCat asked for access to the photo gallery, used optical character recognition (OCR) to look for text in stored images, and uploaded images that matched its criteria. Kaspersky described this as the first known case of an OCR-based Trojan found in Apple’s App Store. The Android and iOS components used Google ML Kit interfaces for OCR; ML Kit was a library used by the malware, not the malicious component itself.
This mechanism did not require someone to send a screenshot in a messaging app or open a particular photo. The risk Kaspersky described was that text already visible in gallery images could be found after the app obtained gallery access. Wallet recovery phrases—also called seed phrases or mnemonics—were a key target: someone who obtains a phrase may be able to access the associated cryptocurrency wallet. Kaspersky also reported potential collection of other sensitive screenshot content, including passwords and messages.
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Which apps and users were affected?
Kaspersky identified ComeCome, a food-delivery app, among the infected apps on both platforms. Its examples also spanned the app categories above. The company reported more than 242,000 downloads of infected Google Play apps at the time of its report. That is an aggregate download figure, not a count of confirmed infections or victims; downloads alone do not establish that every user was infected or had data stolen.
Kaspersky said its analysis suggested the campaign focused on the UAE and countries in Europe and Asia, while noting that victims could be elsewhere. That assessment is not a complete map of affected users. Kaspersky could not determine whether the apps were compromised through a software supply-chain attack or another route, including deliberate developer action. Analysts observed Chinese-language code comments and developer-directory names, but said there was not enough evidence to attribute the campaign to a known cybercriminal group.
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What Apple and Google did
Kaspersky reported known malicious apps to Apple and Google. Its Securelist report records Apple removing malicious App Store apps on February 6, 2025, and Google removing malicious Google Play apps on February 7, 2025. Those dates describe the reported response to the apps then identified. They do not confirm the current availability of any particular app or rule out later variants. The findings and removal dates come from Kaspersky, the security vendor that discovered the malware; they are not statements from Apple or Google.
What to do if you installed a suspicious app
- Remove the app. Kaspersky advised people who installed an infected application to delete it and not use it until an update removed the malicious functionality. Deletion is a sensible first step, but the cited advice is not a forensic assessment or proof that a device is fully remediated.
- Protect exposed wallet funds. If a recovery phrase was stored in a screenshot while a suspicious app had gallery access, treat the phrase as potentially exposed. Use the wallet provider’s official guidance to move funds to a new wallet with a new recovery phrase; do not share the phrase with anyone offering help. A compromised phrase cannot be made safe simply by deleting the screenshot or app.
- Secure accounts if you entered credentials. Change passwords entered into the suspicious app, especially passwords reused elsewhere, and enable multifactor authentication where available. These are general account-security measures, not SparkCat-specific remediation; Meta recommends such measures in separate guidance about malicious account-compromise apps.
- Review permissions and stored images. Check which apps can access Photos or the gallery and revoke access that is not needed. Avoid keeping recovery phrases, passwords or other secrets in screenshots. Removing sensitive images can reduce future exposure, but it cannot undo information already copied.
What this incident means for app-store safety
An App Store or Google Play listing is not, by itself, proof that an app is safe: Kaspersky reported SparkCat in apps found in both stores. At the same time, the report does not mean every app in either store was affected, that every download led to data theft, or that the identified apps remain listed today.
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For general account hygiene, a password manager can help create and store unique passwords, but it does not stop an app with gallery access from scanning screenshots or protect a wallet recovery phrase saved as an image. Security software is an optional layer, not a guarantee of detection or complete removal; Kaspersky’s recommendation to use cybersecurity software comes from a vendor that sells such products.
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