Chinese horror: DeathRing coming to a cheap Android smartphone near you?

An increasing number of my acquaintances seem to be in the habit of buying cheap Android smartphones when in China on business and, increasingly, from online auction sites. More often than not these will be clones of flagship models but without the flagship price tag; however, cheap is not always cheerful. I've seen some of these devices with their look-alike operating systems and their flimsy construction, and given a quick once over have to say I wouldn't trust them with my calls, texts and data. That level of mistrust appears to be well founded, not least because it would seem that some of these cheap clone phones are coming pre-loaded with malware called DeathRing.