The shady apps applied for Apple App Store verification under an innocuous façade, but after getting accepted, the developers did the ol’ bait-and-switch, and started selling illicit services.
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When Apple discovers these crooked apps, they are either rejected or removed immediately from the App Store. Developers can participate in a 14-day appeals process before their accounts are terminated. Apple went on to highlight the slew of other shady activities it blocked last year thanks to its sharp eye for malicious actors.
Apple claims that it protected users from $1.5B in fraudulent transactions
Apple announced that its users would have fallen victim to $1.5 billion in fraudulent transactions, but thanks to the App Review team and its fraudulent account detection system, the App Store remained relatively safe. “In 2020 alone, the fusion of sophisticated technology and human review prevented more than three million stolen credit cards from being used to purchase stolen good and services,” Apple said, adding that it banned nearly one million malicious accounts last year. In addition to payment and credit card fraud, Apple bragged about how its aggressive monitoring helped flag more than 250 million fraudulent ratings and reviews. Apple says it relies on a “sophisticated system” that involves a melange of machine learning, artificial intelligence and expert teams to help moderate and reject suspicious reviews. Maintaining the integrity of Apple’s ratings system is important for capturing users’ trust. “App Store ratings and reviews help many users make decisions about which apps to download, and developers rely on them to incorporate new features that respond to user feedback,” the MacBook maker said. Apple’s 2020 anti-fraud report comes as the iPhone maker faces a bitter legal battle with Epic Games, arguing that its authoritative, iron-fisted oversight over the Apple App Store’s activities is necessary to protect users’ privacy and security.
