The holidays are here and the scammers are out in force. Their latest trick is fake apps. Starbucks started the first “retail app” it, and many stores have followed.
But scammers are now creating fake retail apps, trick you into downloading them to your smartphone or tablet, and ask you to load your credit card information in these apps. You can guess what happens next.

Here are 5 things to keep in mind about this Scam:

• Be very judicious in deciding what app to download. Better safe than sorry.
• If you *do* decide to download an app, first thing to check is the reviews,
  apps with few reviews or bad reviews are a big Red Flag.
• Never click on a link in any email to download a new app. Only go to
  the website of the retailer to get a link to the legit app on the AppStore
  or Google Play.
• If you want to download a retail app, get the link from the app on the retailer’s website. If they don’t advertise an app on their website, they don’t have one.
• Give as little information as possible if you decide to use an app.
• Be very, very reluctant to link your credit card to any app!

There is more information about this at the New York Times:
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/07/technology/more-iphone-fake-retail-apps-before-holidays.html