Apple blocked 1.7 million fraud apps, saved $7 billion worth money of customers

In 2023, Apple terminated 118,000 developer accounts for suspicious activities. And, it rejected 98,000 plus submissions from applicants over fraud concerns.

Compared to the Android and other platforms, Apple App Store is considered to be the most secured for device owners and also the most lucrative for app developers.

Apple has a robust screening process to keep a tab on fraudulent app entering the ecosystem and don’t allow side-loading third-party apps on its devices. But, due to European Union’s new Digital Markets Act in November 2023, the Cupertino-based company was hand twisted to tweak its policy to allow users to install apps onto its devices via third-party digital stores. But, it is limited to EU region.

Despite the setbacks and emerging cyber threats, the company has managed to protect its customers from online frauds. 

In the fourth annual fraud prevention analysis report, Apple said it prevented millions of potentially fraudulent transactions worth more than $7 billion. Last year alone, it saved $1.8 billion of customers money. 

It blocked 1.7 million app submissions for various reasons, including privacy violations, being copycats, and misleading users.

And, in the same period, Apple is said to have blocked 14 million stolen credit cards and more than 3.3 million accounts from transacting again.  

Apple has dedicated an advanced suite of tools and resources to ensure the App Store is a safe and trusted place for users and developers. By thwarting the fraudulent efforts of bad actors, Apple ensures users can install software onto their personal devices knowing there are a number of safeguards in place to protect them, and developers have a reliable store with a strong reputation to distribute their apps and games.

Apple

Last year, Apple terminated 118,000 developer accounts for suspicious activities. And, it rejected 98,000 plus submissions from applicants over fraud concerns. 

The company also detected customers performing illegal credit card usage on App Store and deactivated 374 million plus accounts. And, it prevented more than 153 million device users with a history of frauds from creating accounts on Apple App  Store. 

With Apple forced to allow side-loading of apps to iPhones from third-party stores in the EU, the company has taken up new measures to crack down on illegal digital markets selling fraud iOS apps. It detected and blocked more than 47,000 illegitimate apps on pirate storefronts from reaching users.

Last month, Apple stopped nearly 3.8 million attempts to install or launch apps distributed illegally through the Developer Enterprise Program.

Besides setting up advanced Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML)-powered screening mechanism, Apple has a dedicated App Review team manned by 500 plus human evaluators to individually verify app submissions. On average, the team reviews around 132,500 apps a week. Last year, it reviewed nearly 6.9 million app submissions. Also, 192,000 plus developers were able to publish their first app onto the App Store.

Apple is also keeping an eye on fake reviews on its App Store. Several app developers in a bid to bring bad reputation to rival apps, hire people to post fake reviews and give one star. This hurts genuinely good apps. To thwart such attempts, it verifies all reviews and ratings and only verified app users are able to post ratings.

In 2023, Apple processed 1.1 billion ratings and reviews, and removed nearly 152 million fraudulent ratings and reviews from the App Store. 

The company has assured both app developers and customers that it will continue to invest in scaling up the security measures to prevent bad actors entering App Store.

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