Be careful how you use the internet!

Downloading apps is the bread and butter of any mobile experience and there’s plenty of good stuff on the Store. However, there are also some serious duds out there that only want to gobble up your personal data or sell it for a profit.

Some cybercriminals create their own apps, sometimes mimicking what’s popular or well-known brands, in the hopes that you’ll download them without a second thought. Then, any information you input gets funneled straight through to them, and they can use it for their own nefarious ends – think scams, account takeovers, and fraud.

Some cybercriminals create their own apps, sometimes mimicking what’s popular or well-known brands

If you’ve got your eye on an app, take a look at its reviews on the app store before pushing that download option, and head to the app’s site to check out its privacy policy and what permissions it’ll ask for. Make sure you only download apps from official sources, too, and not sketchy third-party sites.

Why? Well, the Play and App Stores do a decent job of vetting available apps (though some stinkers slip through).