The App Store has stopped nearly $1.5 billion in fraudulent transactions in 2021
The press release indicates that the App Store has managed to stop almost $1.5 billion in potentially fraudulent transactions last year, and this has been made possible because of a combination of App Store review, strict in-app payment requirements, and other policies that Apple enforces in the App Store.
On top of that, Apple says it has also stopped over 1.6 million risky or vulnerable apps and app updates that could have deceived Apple users.
The report also underlines that Apple’s continued protection of users against fraudulent app activity shows why independent security experts have stated the App Store is the safest place to find and download apps.
But that’s not all – the documents continue on to stack more numbers to the statement. For the curious, here are other notable privacy results the company published:
- 34,500 apps – rejected from the App Review team for hidden and undocumented features
- 157,000 apps – rejected because they were found to be spam, copycats, or misleading
- 343,000 apps – rejected for requesting more user data than needed and mishandling data already collected
- 94 million reviews and over 170 million ratings – blocked from publication for failing to meet moderation standards
- 610,000 reviews – removed after publication due to consumer concerns
- 63,500 illegitimate apps – found and blocked on pirate storefronts
- 3.3 million stolen cards – prevented from being used to make potentially fraudulent purchases
- 118 million attempted account creators – rejected for displayed patterns of fraudulent or abusive activity
As you can see, Apple seems to now be the mobile police… and that’s definitely not bad. As we mentioned at the beginning of this story, there have been some legislative proposals aiming to limit Apple’s power and market dominance. This study comes right after the American Choice and Innovation Act, a bill that would force Apple to allow sideloading (if it gets accepted), got a revision. In Europe, there’s the Digital Markets Act (DMA) which would again force Apple to allow sideloading on iOS. The DMA is slowly and steadily working its way to become law.
