Describe ways that you can use personal finance apps safely.

What will be an ideal response?

Personal finance apps offer convenient and easy methods to pay bills, deposit checks, examine account balances, verify payments, and transfer funds. They also are magnets for cybercriminals to snatch an unsuspecting user's personal information and send it to someone else anywhere in the world, who then can use the information for monetary transactions. Nearly one-third of malware banking apps target customers in the United States with malicious instructions that invade their smartphones and gain access to information stored on their devices. Users in Brazil, Australia, and France also are becoming extremely popular targets for banking thieves. By using caution and common sense, however, users can take steps to safeguard their funds and their identities by following these practices:?•Evaluate the apps.Fraudulent apps may resemble legitimate apps from financial institutions. They often, however, are riddled with misspellings and awkward sentences. In addition, legitimate companies rarely promote downloading an app from a pop-up or pop-under advertisement. If you want an app from a bank or other financial institution, visit that company's website for instructions about downloading and installing its authentic apps.?•Use strong passwords to access the apps.Many of the more secure personal finance apps have dual passwords that involve typing a string of characters and also validating a picture. In addition, be certain to password protect your mobile device.?•Guard your smartphone.According to Consumer Reports, more than 5.2 million Americans lost or had their phones stolen in a recent year. That number decreased by more than 1 million from a previous year. The study credited the decrease in numbers to the use of apps available to help users locate missing phones. Many phones also have a kill switch that renders the phone inoperable or remotely wipes the phone's data after too many unsuccessful login attempts. You still should take caution when storing personal information on your phone to protect your identity in the event that your mobile device is lost or stolen.?•Verify the transactions.Always verify your transactions by scrutinizing monthly statements. In addition, periodically check balances and alert your financial institution if any activity seems abnormal.