Apple blocks over $2 billion in fraudulent transactions on App Retailer in 2024 

Apple has revealed that it prevented over $2 billion value of fraudulent transactions on its App Retailer in 2024 alone, bringing the overall quantity blocked within the final 5 years to greater than $9 billion.

This was disclosed within the tech large’s newest annual App Retailer fraud evaluation, showcasing its ongoing efforts to take care of the platform as a safe market for builders and customers alike.

The App Retailer, which launched in 2008 and now sees greater than 813 million guests every week, is out there in 175 areas globally.

Cracking down on fraud 

In a yr marked by more and more subtle cyber threats, Apple stated it employed a complete technique to detect, examine, and stop malicious exercise from reaching customers.

“These threats vary from misleading apps designed to steal private data to fraudulent fee schemes that try to use customers,” Apple acknowledged.

• Apple added that in 2024, it terminated greater than 146,000 developer accounts over fraud issues 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 customer account creations and deactivated almost 129 million customer accounts final yr, blocking these dangerous and malicious accounts from finishing up nefarious exercise.
• That, it stated, consists of spamming or manipulating rankings and opinions, charts, and search outcomes that threat compromising the integrity of the App Retailer.

“In 2024, Apple detected and blocked over 10,000 illegitimate apps on pirate storefronts, which embrace malware, pornography apps, playing apps, and pirated variations of authentic apps from the App Retailer.  

“By limiting these storefronts, Apple additionally protects builders from having their apps cloned, altered, or weaponized for spreading malicious software program,” the corporate acknowledged within the report.

Over the previous month, Apple stated it has additionally stopped almost 4.6 million makes an attempt to put in or launch apps distributed illicitly exterior the App Retailer or permitted third-party marketplaces.

Practically 129 million customer accounts had been deactivated for partaking in suspicious actions equivalent to spamming or manipulating rankings and opinions.

App rankings and opinions 

In 2024, Apple stated it processed over 1.2 billion rankings and opinions and took vital motion to fight fraud, eradicating greater than 143 million fraudulent rankings and opinions 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 enjoying discipline and permitting them a good likelihood to thrive on the App Retailer,” the corporate acknowledged.

• Apple stated its evaluate group additionally rejected over 43,000 app submissions in 2024 for holding hidden or undocumented options.
• The corporate additionally took motion in opposition to a variety of apps that try to trick or rip-off customers, and in 2024, rejecting over 320,000 submissions that copied different apps, had been discovered to be spam, or in any other case misled customers.
• Based on Apple, dangerous actors may try to deceive customers by disguising probably dangerous software program as seemingly innocuous apps. This, it stated, led to the elimination of over 17,000 apps final yr for bait-and-switch maneuvers.