The App Store prevented 1.6 million risky and untrustworthy apps from cheating users by 2021, according to new fraud analysis data shared by Apple today. Apple says the App Store stopped “nearly $ 1.5 billion in fraudulent transactions” during the year.
Apple rejected more than 34,000 hidden feature apps and more than 157,000 that were spam or copycat apps. 343,000 apps were rejected for various privacy violations. Over 800,000 fraudulent developer accounts were closed.
More than 170 million fraudulent customer accounts were disabled and 118 million attempts to create fraudulent accounts were rejected. 155,000 malicious apps that tried to bypass the app review process by changing functionality or concept after approval were rejected or removed from the App Store. 63,500 illegitimate apps on pirated businesses were blocked by Apple, and more than 3.3 million apps distributed illegally through the Enterprise Developer Program were blocked.
Apple says the App Review team helped more than 107,000 developers get their apps on the App Store in 2021, and 835,000 problematic new apps and 805,000 app updates were rejected or removed from the App Store due to bug issues.
In terms of ratings and reviews scams, Apple has detected and blocked more than 94 million reviews and over 170 million reviews for non-compliance with moderation standards. 610,000 additional reviews were removed after publication due to customer concerns and human evaluation.
Apple stopped over 3.3 million stolen credit and debit cards from being used to make potentially fraudulent purchases, and 600,000 accounts were excluded from additional App Store transactions.
Apple says it plans to continue working to detect fraudulent activity and accounts and prevent financial crime to keep the App Store a “safe and reliable place for users to find and download apps.”