Researchers uncovered a scam involving 28 fraudulent applications on the Google Play Store, collectively called "CallPhantom," which garnered over 7.3 million downloads. These apps promised access to call logs, SMS records, and WhatsApp history for any phone number, but users received fabricated data after paying a fee. The apps varied in appearance but shared a common strategy of generating random phone numbers and pairing them with pre-existing names and call details. Some requested email addresses to send the 'retrieved' history, but none had the necessary permissions to access the claimed data. Payment methods included Google Play’s official billing system and third-party platforms, with some apps misleading users into staying on subscription screens. ESET reported these apps to Google on December 16, leading to their removal from the Play Store.