I ran across this interesting tidbit the other day regarding a fraudulent mobile banking app developed for the Android mobile platform.
Here's the scoop: USAA, a financial institution that serves the military community, discovered a software developer was selling an impostor USAA application designed for use with Android phones.
The developer had posted it for sale within Google's Android Marketplace, but USAA took immediate action and had the application removed.
I think this is a great reminder to always think twice before you download any app (iPhone, Android or Facebook for that matter) that has access to your personal information.
While they didn't provide any details, I would hope that Google and/or USAA are pursing legal action against this developer for financial fraud and/or identity theft.
Moreover, I hope that Google has banned this developer from publishing anymore apps for the Android Marketplace. When it comes to banking apps, perhaps Google needs to take more proactive steps to guarantee that only legitimate financial apps are allowed into the Android Marketplace.
So what can you do to protect yourself from this new type of identity theft? I think one of the comments on the USSA blog said it best:
This raises a question, not just for USAA, but especially for other financial institutions. Wouldn't it be safer if financial apps could ONLY be downloaded from the institution website instead of the "Marketplace" where almost anyone can upload an app?
I think that's great advice--go to your bank's website and get the link to their mobile app. Kudos to the USAA team for monitoring the apps in the Android Marketplace and alerting their customers about this new type of identity theft.
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