A kind of mobile spyware with an eavesdropping function has spread widely on Android-based smartphones in China, the Southern Metropolis Daily observed on Wednesday.

The stealthy Trojan virus called "bugging robber" can monitor and copy phone conversations, text messages, phone numbers and phone records, and send all the private information back to an email account set up by hackers.

The virus is hard to remove, and reinstalling the phone's system is the only way to get rid of it.

Wan Renguo, a mobile security expert at the 360 company, advised users to be "cautious when clicking on attachments in multimedia messages or allowing others to use their phones."

Users are also advised to check their cell phones when abnormalities in network traffic appear.

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