In the past few weeks, fake apps have been popping up in the Apple App Store- right as the holiday shopping season goes into full swing. Most of these apps are masquerading as high-end, designer brands offering the luxury goods for a discount.
Luckily, Apple has already stepped in and removed hundreds of the fake apps that have been reported. While Apple has a very thorough app vetting process in order to prevent malicious and fraudulent apps, these particular apps are skating by because the developer is changing the content of the app after Apple has approved it.
How To Spot A Fake App:
Take time to read the reviews of apps in the app store – the rating of the app can and will tell you something. If there are no reviews for the app, it is red flag.
- Fake and malicious apps can pose a variety of concerns, ranging from security and privacy risks to device performance issues like battery consumption and data usage. The purpose of these particular fake apps is to collect credit card, personal information and serving up annoying popup ads.
- Look at when the app was published – how do you feel about using a brand new app or one that is used by few people? How does that fit with your tolerance for risk?
- Take a look at the language used in the description in the app- a lot of fake apps will have spelling mistakes, typos or even broken English.
- When in doubt- go directly to the manufacturer’s website in your browser, and look on the website for their official app, and click the link to obtain the official app. If they don’t offer an app, it is best to buy from the website directly.
