As Apple faces losing control over the App Store in the US, the company published a press release revealing that it stopped over $2 billion in potentially fraudulent transactions and blocked nearly 2 million risky app submissions from reaching users in 2024.
While it’s always interesting to see the company’s efforts to prevent fraud on the App Store, Cupertino is fighting hard to maintain control of its lucrative marketplace. A judge in California has required Apple to let developers offer third-party payment options outside the App Store and to allow Fortnite back on the platform.
Apple says that, according to its annual App Store fraud analysis, it has “protected users by preventing over $9 billion in fraudulent transactions” since 2008. The company also shared a breakdown of its efforts to fight fraud on the App Store:
Account Fraud: In 2024, the company terminated more than 146,000 developer accounts over fraud concerns and rejected an additional 139,000 developer enrollments, preventing bad actors from submitting their apps. Apple also rejected over 711 million customer account creations and deactivated nearly 129 million accounts last year, stopping risky and malicious accounts from spamming or manipulating ratings and reviews.
App Review: Apple relies on an App Store Review team to ensure submitted apps aren’t fraudulent. On average, the team reviews nearly 150,000 app submissions each week. App Review combines human review and automated processes to detect and take action on apps suspected of potentially harming users. Over 7.7 million apps were reviewed in 2024, and more than 1.9 million were rejected for failing to meet the company’s standards.
Discovery Fraud: In 2024, Apple processed over 1.2 billion ratings and reviews and removed more than 143 million fraudulent ones. That same year, the company also removed over 7,400 apps from App Store charts and nearly 9,500 deceptive apps from appearing in search results.
Payment and Credit Card Fraud: Last year, Apple identified nearly 4.7 million stolen credit cards and banned over 1.6 million accounts from transacting again. Alongside its antifraud measures, Apple provides developers with tools like Apple Pay and StoreKit, which are used by over 420,000 apps to offer users a secure way to make purchases on the App Store.
The company is also offering a new customer support article for the first time that provides information about the tools and resources available to help users on the App Store.
Wrap up
While Apple does a good job with App Store reviews and fraud prevention, the system isn’t perfect. Every now and then, BGR reports on a fraudulent app that makes its way to the store. But the company wants users (and governments across the globe) to know that even if the system has flaws, it’s probably still better than leaving it to others to manage.
After all, Apple keeps telling users the App Store is a “place you can trust.” Still, future fraud reports could look very different as governments push the company to open up its marketplace and support third-party stores or payment systems.
