The National Center on Sexual Exploitation thanked Apple and Google in a tweet for removing the app”
Wizz is hoping to return to both the App Store and the Play Store. An e-mailed statement from a Wizz spokesperson says, “Apple and Google are seeking more information on our app, and we are working closely with their teams to clarify our platform’s extensive safeguards for users. We hope to resolve this matter soon.” Despite being hopeful about a return to the App Store and the Play Store, Wizz did not say what it intends to do in order to have Apple and Google reinstate the app.
Wizz, which has been compared to Tinder, says on its website, “Welcome to Wizz, where the fun comes from the unexpected. Wizz is the ultimate online platform for random chats with people from all over the world.” The app allows users to scroll through profiles that show a person’s photo, his/her first name, age, state, and zodiac sign. The app has marketed itself as a “safe space” where users as young as 13 can make age-appropriate friends.
Teens have committed suicide due to the shame of getting caught in a sextortion scam
The study noted that “Some victims report being targeted by sextortion within minutes of joining the app, suggesting that criminals have saturated Wizz.” Subscribers claimed that the app was “serving pornographic ads to minors.”
Alex Goldenberg, the Network Contagion Research Institute’s director of intelligence said, “Wizz has something in the ballpark of 20 million active users. But if the app store doesn’t continue to carry it, they cannot sustain, let alone grow, their user base.”
Goldenberg also said that the app’s age verification system is not strong enough. “We’ve seen threat actors who can bypass age verification facial recognition by having their cousin or brother take a selfie, and then they will be off and running on the platform,” he said. “And it’s not just threat actors — if you’re under the age of 13, it’s very easy to have an older sibling have a photo taken, as well.”
