- A free Android VPN app with 1M+ downloads was caught as host of his service on the Windscribe chair VPN servers
- JetVPN allegedly began using Private Internet Access (Pia) servers after Windscribe blocked its access
- According to Windscribe, this incident is a symptom of wider problems with Google Play
A FREE VPN that ranks among the most downloaded free apps in the Google Play store with 1m+ downloads, was caught apparently Stealing from Windscribe.
Reviewed as one of the best VPN providers in the market of Techradar’s reviewers, Windscribe first realized that JetVPN-a new name in the industry-used windscribe-owned servers to host his VPN service in late July.
After blocking it, JetVPN allegedly turned to Private Internet Access (Pia) servers to continue to host its service.
A JetVPN spokesman told Techradar that the team was completely unaware of the situation until Windscribe reached out. A third-party company offering a “White-Label VPN” solution, allegedly provided JetVPN with Windscribe and Pia servers without the company knowing it.
“All of this thing is basically scammers who are scamming other scammers,” commented Windscribe’s CEO, Yegor Sak, adding that “this is not the first time this happened,” suggests this signals a wider problem with how Google handles quality control on new applications.
The chair VPN servers – how did it happen?
Windscribe and Pia are among a handful of VPN providers offering unlimited device connections. This means that once you subscribe to one of these services, you can use your VPN app on all your devices simultaneously.
While everyday users can take advantage of this policy to protect their families and friends by paying only for a subscription, malicious developers can also abuse it to host their own virtual private network (VPN) software at no cost.
“How they do it is very simple: they buy a lot of windscribe accounts, and then massage them using their own app by distributing OpenVPN credentials,” SAK told Techradar.
Nothing to worry about if you have a windscribe or Pia account, however. As SAK explains, “This does not affect other Windscribe users as they just abuse their own accounts they paid for.”
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Pia also confirmed to Techradar that the team was aware that a third party took advantage of his unlimited device offering.
“In accordance with our Terms of Service, we immediately closed the insulting accounts,” a Pia spokesman said.
When JetVPN was contacted by Techradar, JetVPN said immediately stopped using Windscribe and Pia servers as soon as the provider came into contact, removed them from its use and moved to an infrastructure that was fully under the company’s control.
“We would like to emphasize that JetVPN never engaged in any intentional or unauthorized use of their infrastructure overlapping came solely from the same third-party provider,” a JetVPN spokesman said.
A Google Play problem?
At the time of writing, JetVPN is not available in the Google Play Store. Until Friday, August 15, 2025, it was and gathered a 5-star assessment within a few months. VPN was never available for download in the Apple App Store.
On the question of this, JetVPN Techradar said that the removal is not directly related to this case.
“We are currently updating and improving our service, and we look forward to making it available again over time,” said a JetVPN spokesman, adding that it was the company’s decision to start the app solely on Android at first.
That said, the JetVPN saga is only the latest of such events where non -verified VPN -Apps managed to get into the best rows on Google Play.
Google even launched a “verified” badge last February to help users only download and reliable services. Still, this popular free Google Chrome VPN expansion has recently proved to spy on its 100K users, despite having achieved such a security emblem.
All in all, SAK said to Techradar: “Google has a serious problem on their hands with quality control, as well as obvious use of bots for mass install and mass-review shade [JetVPN] Has a 5.0 assessment with 5K+ votes and zero written reviews. “
As a rule of thumb, always avoid downloading unsecured freebies if you are interested in your privacy and security. If you are looking for a reliable application, we recommend checking our best free VPN Guide – Privado VPN, Proton VPN and Windscribe Free are today’s top choice.
