$9 billion in fraud didn't make it to your iPhone – Apple just showed the 'receipts'

Phone Arena

5 days ago

Apple has always leaned into its reputation for strong security and while its closed-off ecosystem often gets flak – especially in places like the EU – the company has been consistent about one thing: keeping the App Store safe. Now, Apple's pulling back the curtain and revealing some pretty massive numbers that show just how far it's gone to fight fraud over the past five years.According to its latest App Store fraud report, Apple says it's stopped over $9 billion in fraudulent transactions since 2019 – and more than $2 billion of that just in 2024. That's a big flex from the company, which uses a mix of machine learning and human review to keep bad actors out.
In fact, just in 2024 alone, Apple says it terminated 146,000 shady developer accounts, rejected another 139,000 sign-up attempts and blocked or deactivated nearly 129 million customer accounts to prevent fraud like review manipulation, spam and shady ratings.
That's a whole lot of shady attempts creeping toward our iPhones. | Image credit – Apple
But Apple's efforts go beyond just App Store accounts. It is also targeting pirate storefronts – those sketchy third-party sites pushing malware-laced or pirated apps. In 2024, Apple blocked over 10,000 of these rogue apps and just in the past month, stopped around 4.6 million attempts to install or launch apps outside the App Store or approved marketplaces.
The app review process doesn't mess around. | Image credit – Apple Before any app hits the App Store, it is screened by Apple's App Review team, which checks around 150,000 submissions a week. Last year alone, they helped 220,000 developers launch their first app.And they are not just skimming the surface – Apple reviewed over 7.7 million apps in 2024 and rejected 1.9 million that didn't meet its standards. That includes privacy violations, hidden features, spam or attempts to copy other apps.The review process also sniffs out more subtle tricks. Developers often try to sneak in dangerous features that only activate after approval or use bait-and-switch tactics to trick users. Apple rejected over 43,000 apps for hidden features and 17,000 more for shady behavior like that. It also took down 37,000 fraudulent apps tied to suspicious developer networks and rejected over 320,000 apps for being spammy, deceptive or misleading.
In 2024, Apple handled more than 1.2 billion ratings and reviews. | Image credit – Apple Apple's also cracking down on discovery fraud – stuff like fake downloads, paid-for five-star reviews or ranking manipulation. In 2024, the company processed over 1.2 billion ratings and reviews and removed more than 143 million that were fake or fraudulent.It also yanked over 7,400 apps from the App Store charts and nearly 9,500 more from search results. That means legit developers get a fairer shot at being discovered.
The numbers are huge. | Image credit – Apple
Fraudulent payments and stolen credit cards are a big threat and Apple says it stopped more than $2 billion in scam transactions in 2024 alone. Its tools, like Apple Pay and StoreKit, are designed with security at the core. Apple Pay doesn't even share your card number with developers and everything's encrypted end-to-end.