Hackers plant viruses in Windows smartphone games

The games are bundled with malicious software that automatically dials premium-rate telephone services in Somalia,Italy and other countries,sometimes ringing up hundreds of dollars in charges in a single month.

The services are run by the programmers who built the tainted software,Hering said on Friday.

Victims generally do not realize they have been infected until they get their phone bills and see hundreds of dollars of unexpected charges for those premium-rate services,he said.

Hackers are increasingly targeting smartphone users as sales of the sophisticated mobile devices have soared with the success of Apple Inc8217;s iPhone and Google Inc8217;s Android operating system.

Microsoft said it was aware of the problem and investigating it.

8220;As always,Microsoft continues to encourage customers to follow all of the steps of the 8216;Protect Your Computer8217; guidance of enabling a firewall,applying all software updates and installing anti-virus and anti-spyware software,8221; said a spokesman.