Apple announced that in 2022, the App Store prevented over $2 billion in potentially fraudulent transactions, and rejected nearly 1.7 million app submissions for failing to meet the App Store’s high standards for privacy, security, and content.
In 2022, Apple protected users from nearly 57,000 untrustworthy apps from illegitimate storefronts, which do not have the same built-in privacy and security protections as the App Store.
These unauthorized marketplaces distribute harmful software that can imitate popular apps or alter them without the consent of their developers.
In the last 30 days alone, Apple blocked close to 3.9 million attempts to install or launch apps distributed illicitly through the Developer Enterprise Program, which allows large organizations to deploy internal apps for use by employees.
Apple also takes action against fraudulent customer accounts, and in 2022, disabled over 282 million customer accounts associated with fraudulent and abusive activity. And 198 million attempted fraudulent new accounts were blocked before they could even be created.
In 2022, nearly 1.7 million app submissions were rejected from the App Store for various reasons, including concerns related to fraud and privacy. In more than one case this year, App Review caught apps using malicious code with the potential to steal users’ credentials from third-party services.
In other instances, the App Review team identified several apps that disguised themselves as innocuous financial management platforms but had the capability to morph into another app. Nearly 24,000 apps were blocked or removed from the App Store for bait-and-switch violations such as these in 2022.
There are other reasons an app can be rejected for fraud. For example, over 153,000 app submissions rejected from the App Store last year were found to be spam, copycats, or misleading, and nearly 29,000 submissions were rejected for containing hidden or undocumented features. Sometimes apps try to obtain users’ personal data without their knowledge or consent. In 2022, upward of 400,000 app submissions were rejected for privacy violations.
App Review also investigates apps reported through Apple’s Report a Problem tool and takes immediate action to remove apps that have been confirmed as fraudulent or malicious. Unapproved apps under a developer account that has been terminated for fraud and abuse are automatically removed and prevented from being submitted to the App Store. In 2022, App Review took action to prevent nearly 84,000 potentially fraudulent apps from reaching users on the App Store.
In 2022, with over 1 billion ratings and reviews processed, Apple blocked and removed more than 147 million ratings and reviews for failing to meet moderation standards.
Last year, Apple blocked nearly 3.9 million stolen credit cards from being used to make fraudulent purchases and banned 714,000 accounts from transacting again. In total, Apple blocked $2.09 billion in fraudulent transactions on the App Store in 2022.
