Over a million mobile phones in China have been hit by a virus that steals contact information to commit click fraud and propagate the virus.

The virus manipulates a security application to transmit the victim's SIM card details to a central server controlled by a group of hackers, who then send virus-ridden links to games and software, according to CNN.

Anyone clicking on the link will infect their mobile phones and at the same time the proved a click through for the link, which is translated into a payment for a party publicising the links.