YORK, Pa. — Calling Old Saint Nick or downloading a Christmas-themed game to keep the kids entertained on the ride to grandma's could be great ways to get into the holiday spirit. Unless a scrooge is running the app.
On day 3 of our 12 scams of Christmas, we look into why those holiday apps - may not be so jolly.
Hearing from the big guy right before Christmas is great for the kids and there are plenty of apps that will dial you right through to the north pole or track his sleigh.
Most of those are probably fine.
Just make sure before you hand the phone over to your kid that there are no in-app purchases they can buy without your approval.
That's one reason these apps made the Better Business Bureau's 12 scams of Christmas.
"Oftentimes we hear from parents who purchased things that they didn't realize could be purchased through the app, that is sharing personal information with the little pop-ups that come up," said Kelsey Coleman, the Director of Communications at the Better Business Bureau for Metro Philly and Eastern Pennsylvania.
There also could be privacy concerns like if the app asks for a photo of a child. Most of these apps even disclosure that they are sharing the data you give them.
Just make sure mom and dad take a quick look at the privacy policy and be sore to hit the "Ask app not to track" function when you download it.
Some of those free apps can contain malware, you know, kind of like getting coal in your stocking.
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