New Delhi, Aug. 31 -- The Indian government has alerted Android users to a new round of malicious apps disguised as pornography apps. These apps are supposed to be advertised on Facebook and Instagram, but they can take hold of users' smartphones and facilitate financial fraud.

The National Cybercrime Threat Analytics Unit (NCTAU) of the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C) and the Ministry of Home Affairs issued the warning. During its advisory, the agency named several apps, including Night Play, Reloop, Kyss, Vimo, Rivo, Nexo and Vixa.

The attack begins with ads or links to pornography on Facebook and Instagram, the NCTAU advisory said. These ads can take users to websites containing adult material and request them to install...