Might 27, 2025
UPDATE
The App Retailer prevented greater than $9 billion in fraudulent transactions over the past 5 years
In 2024 alone, Apple stopped over $2 billion in doubtlessly fraudulent transactions and blocked almost 2 million dangerous app submissions from reaching customers
Since launching in 2008, the App Retailer has been a protected and trusted place for customers and a vibrant market for builders to develop their companies world wide. Within the final 5 years, the App Retailer has protected customers by stopping over $9 billion in fraudulent transactions, together with over $2 billion in 2024 alone, in line with Apple’s annual App Retailer fraud evaluation. This displays the App Retailer’s continued funding in fostering essentially the most safe expertise for customers whereas offering builders with instruments and sources, together with a strong commerce system that helps prospects transact safely and securely in 175 areas across the globe. With a median of greater than 813 million guests per week, the App Retailer is a trusted vacation spot for customers to obtain their favourite apps and uncover new ones.
Preserving the App Retailer’s protected and safe market requires fixed vigilance, as dangerous actors proceed to evolve their techniques in an try and defraud customers. These threats vary from misleading apps designed to steal private data, to fraudulent fee schemes that try to use customers. Apple employs a complete method to combating fraud on the App Retailer, with groups throughout the corporate working to detect, examine, and stop malicious exercise earlier than it will possibly attain customers.
Account Fraud
Apple’s robust antifraud infrastructure helps make sure that malicious developer and buyer accounts are swiftly flagged and eradicated. In 2024, Apple terminated greater than 146,000 developer accounts over fraud considerations and rejected an extra 139,000 developer enrollments, stopping dangerous actors from submitting their apps to the App Retailer within the first place.
Apple additionally rejected over 711 million buyer account creations and deactivated almost 129 million buyer accounts final yr, blocking these dangerous and malicious accounts from finishing up nefarious exercise. That features spamming or manipulating rankings and critiques, charts, and search outcomes that danger compromising the integrity of the App Retailer.
This dedication to security extends past the App Retailer, as Apple works to stop dangerous software program distributed by pirate storefronts from reaching customers. In 2024, Apple detected and blocked over 10,000 illegitimate apps on pirate storefronts, which embody malware, pornography apps, playing apps, and pirated variations of reliable apps from the App Retailer. By proscribing these storefronts, Apple additionally protects builders from having their apps cloned, altered, or weaponized for spreading malicious software program.
Over the previous month, Apple has additionally stopped almost 4.6 million makes an attempt to put in or launch apps distributed illicitly outdoors the App Retailer or permitted third-party marketplaces.
App Overview
Earlier than any app makes its approach onto the App Retailer, it’s vetted by a member of Apple’s App Overview workforce, all of whom are deeply conversant in the App Overview Tips, and targeted on guaranteeing apps meet Apple’s requirements for high quality and security. On common, this workforce critiques almost 150,000 app submissions every week, serving to deliver new apps and updates to the App Retailer. Final yr, App Overview helped greater than 220,000 builders publish their first app on the App Retailer.
App Overview entails each human evaluation and automatic processes to detect and take motion on apps which might be suspected to be doubtlessly dangerous to customers. With over 7.7 million App Retailer submissions reviewed in 2024, greater than 1.9 million had been rejected for failing to fulfill Apple’s requirements for safety, reliability, and consumer expertise, together with for privateness violations or fraud considerations.
Malicious actors are recognized to make use of a wide range of techniques of their makes an attempt to avoid App Overview’s safeguards and sneak dangerous apps onto the App Retailer with the intention of defrauding customers. App Overview rejects any doubtlessly malicious apps it identifies throughout evaluation, and the workforce’s investigation into one fraudulent app usually ends in the takedown of a number of others linked to the identical problematic developer. In 2024, App Overview eliminated greater than 37,000 apps for fraudulent exercise.
Different frequent techniques utilized by fraudulent builders can embody concealing hidden options and performance of their code, that are solely enabled after the app passes App Overview. Apple screens for such habits, and in 2024, rejected over 43,000 app submissions for holding hidden or undocumented options. App Overview additionally takes motion in opposition to numerous apps that try and trick or rip-off customers, and in 2024, rejected over 320,000 submissions that copied different apps, had been discovered to be spam, or in any other case misled customers.
These dangerous actors also can try and deceive customers by disguising doubtlessly dangerous software program as seemingly innocuous apps. Final yr, App Overview eliminated over 17,000 apps for bait-and-switch maneuvers reminiscent of these, as a part of its ongoing efforts to routinely monitor and take motion in opposition to problematic apps.
Apps that try and entry customers’ private information with out their permission or information are additionally prohibited from the App Retailer. In 2024, App Overview rejected 400,000 app submissions for privateness violations.
Discovery Fraud
Apple takes swift motion in opposition to apps that try and cheat the system and enhance their rating on the App Retailer, reminiscent of through the use of bots or paid providers to artificially inflate obtain numbers or submit faux five-star critiques.
In 2024, Apple processed over 1.2 billion rankings and critiques and took vital motion to fight fraud, eradicating greater than 143 million fraudulent rankings and critiques from the App Retailer. In the identical yr, Apple additionally eliminated greater than 7,400 apps from App Retailer charts and almost 9,500 misleading apps from showing in App Retailer search outcomes. These actions in flip profit builders who’re in good standing, leveling the taking part in discipline and permitting them a good probability to thrive on the App Retailer.
Cost and Credit score Card Fraud
Apple is diligent in its mission to guard customers from rip-off and fee threats, and in 2024, protected customers by stopping greater than $2 billion in fraudulent transactions.
Apple additionally takes bank card fraud extraordinarily significantly and stays dedicated to defending customers from such. For instance, when shoppers make a purchase order with Apple Pay, it makes use of a device-specific quantity and distinctive transaction code so a card quantity is rarely saved on a client’s system or on Apple servers. Moreover, credit score and debit card numbers are by no means shared with builders, thus eliminating one other danger issue within the fee transaction course of. Final yr, Apple recognized almost 4.7 million stolen bank cards and banned over 1.6 million accounts from transacting once more.
Along with its antifraud measures, Apple additionally equips builders with entry to world-class fee applied sciences. Examples of those embody Apple Pay and StoreKit, that are utilized by over 420,000 apps to supply customers with a protected, safe option to make purchases on the App Retailer.
Builders leveraging StoreKit can benefit from Apple’s in-app buy system, which offers customers with way more than a option to buy subscriptions and digital add-ons. In-app buy on the App Retailer presents customers a safe and trusted surroundings designed to guard privateness, stop fraud, and make managing purchases easy. With built-in instruments to view, modify, or cancel subscriptions; buy historical past; and help for refunds, customers keep in management each step of the best way. Each transaction is authenticated with a consumer’s Apple ID, backed by an industry-leading fraud safety engine, and dealt with with end-to-end encryption.
Preserving Customers Secure
Apple will proceed to construct on its dedication to supply customers with the most secure and most safe expertise on the App Retailer, which incorporates empowering them with sources to get assist and report suspected fraud. Be taught extra about staying protected on the App Retailer at help.apple.com/en-us/122712.
Press Contacts
Adam Dema
Apple
Archelle Thelemaque
Apple
Apple Media Helpline
