ATTENTION SHOPPERS! Fake Apps Target Holiday Shoppers

“Proceed to checkout?” Not so fast! That holiday shopping app that seems too good to be true may be just that.

Malicious developers are targeting online shoppers this holiday season via Apple’s App Store. But wait, isn’t the App Store supposed to be secure? That’s what we thought, but think about this, Apple receives hundreds of app submissions a day, so there’s a good chance that some bad eggs may slip through the cracks.

Hundreds of fake retail apps have hit the Apple Store looking to take advantage of holiday shoppers this season. Developers are creating apps that look and feel just like normal retail apps. They appear to offer the products that we know and trust, but these apps are anything but trustworthy.

Once you’re finished shopping and proceed to checkout, you enter your credit card information and hit the magical “Place Order” button, but that’s normal, right? What isn’t normal is that instead of getting those new boots you wanted or that gold watch you had your eyes on, you are getting scammed by a malicious developer. Developers create these fake apps in order to steal your financial and personal information and use it for their own personal gain. Some apps will even lock the user out of their phone until they pay a fee. Scary right? So what is Apple doing to stop this?

Apple already has one of the most thorough test processes for new apps that want to join the App Store.  Looking for any sign of malicious software, each app goes through rigorous testing before it hits the market. So how are these fake apps slipping past Apple’s watchful eye undetected? As Apple’s detective work increases, so does the developer’s cleverness in finding ways to hide the malicious software deep in the abyss of the app’s coding, making it almost impossible to find.

Also, developers can change the app’s coding after Apple has approved it. Apple can’t fight this war alone and needs the help of users. There are ways users can flag an app that they believe to be malicious. Apple has already removed hundreds of fake apps but some may be, and probably still are, out there. One would think that this would only happen to smaller or “no name” companies, but that’s not the case. Companies such as Dollar Tree, all the way up to Christian Dior, have been affected.

So how can you protect yourself? Here are a few tips to be smart on your smart device.

-Read the reviews for the app (a real app should have a lot of reviews)

-Only download apps from your device’s App Store, not from a 3rd party site

-Check for misspellings in the app’s name and description

And remember, one of the best tools is to use common sense. If something seems off or doesn’t feel right, STOP. These devious developers are out there and looking to take advantage of unsuspecting shoppers.