Apple saved App Retailer customers from over $7 billion in fraudulent fees over the past three years

Apple not solely shot down makes an attempt to make use of fraud to pay for purchases within the App Retailer, it additionally stopped fraudulent apps from getting listed on the App Retailer. Final yr, over 1.7 million submissions for app listings have been rejected by Apple for failing to fulfill its requirements for privateness, safety, and content material. 248,000 requests for an App Retailer itemizing have been blocked by Apple as a result of the app was thought-about to be spam, a copycat app, or was designed to mislead customers. 

Apple would not enable over 38,000 apps to get listed within the App Retailer as a result of that they had “hidden or undocumented options.” And greater than 375,000 apps have been rejected by Apple as a result of privateness violations. Essentially the most harmful apps are people who current themselves to be innocent however as soon as put in they rework into malicious apps. 

Apple says, “Unhealthy actors make use of misleading ways to hurt customers, together with the follow of disguising probably dangerous apps as innocuous ones. Over the previous yr, there have been quite a few situations the place App Overview recognized apps initially misrepresented as innocent merchandise — resembling picture editors or puzzle video games — that later remodeled submit evaluate into pirate film streaming platforms, unlawful playing apps, or fraudulent and predatory mortgage issuers.”

App Overview will take motion towards apps reported as fraudulent or malicious by these utilizing Apple’s “Report a Drawback” characteristic. Such apps are instantly faraway from the App Retailer and the app’s developer faces termination from the Apple Developer Program. Final yr, Apple says that App Overview prevented near 98,000 fraudulent apps from changing into accessible to App Retailer customers.

Many guests to the App Retailer base their shopping for selections on an app’s rankings and opinions which makes them a great tool for dangerous actors looking for to get the unsuspecting public to put in a malicious app. In 2023, Apple processed over 1.1 billion rankings and opinions with practically 152 million fraudulent rankings and opinions faraway from the App Retailer. 

Apple’s objective in telling you this isn’t simply to brag in regards to the techniques it has in place to forestall App Retailer fraud, but in addition to make you are feeling protected and safe when putting in an app, or making an in-app buy through the App Retailer.