Apple blocked more than $2 billion in fraudulent App Store transactions last year

Apple has proclaimed that its digital marketplace, the App Store, halted over $2 billion in fraudulent transactions in 2022, steadfastly offering a reliable and secure platform for software services.

At present, the App Store captivates over 650 million users worldwide each week, facilitating over 195 local payment methods and supporting transactions in 44 currencies, thereby attracting more than 36 million Apple developers to contribute app content.

Apart from intercepting over $2 billion in potential fraudulent transactions in 2022, Apple has also declined the listing of approximately 1.7 million apps that did not conform to the App Store’s criteria for privacy, safety, and content. Concurrently, it has eradicated 428,000 developer accounts and 282 million user accounts due to fraudulent activities and misuse.

Prior to the approval of each app, Apple undertakes a multitude of security checks, including verifying during the development stage using Xcode whether the app was developed using authorized technologies and ascertaining that the app fulfills the basic requirements for listing on the App Store. After developers upload the app to App Store Connect, checks are made to ensure the app does not utilize undisclosed APIs or embed malicious software, and app quality and safety are guaranteed through the review by App Review personnel.

Furthermore, Apple utilizes the rating and review mechanism of the App Store to guide users on the worthiness of downloading an app, which also serves as an essential reference for developers to refine their apps. However, fake reviews could potentially entice users to download apps, hence Apple has filtered over a billion fake ratings and reviews in 2022, which include over 147 million unreviewed content.

In the transactional segment, Apple further asserts that it impeded over $2 billion in fraudulent transactions in 2022, and prevented over 714,000 accounts implicated in fraud from further transactions. It has also halted nearly 3.9 million stolen credit cards from continuing transactions, highlighting the safety of transactions on the App Store ensured by technical resources such as Apple Pay and StoreKit.

Apple pledges to render the App Store a platform that is secure and trusted by users and developers, and will persist in developing methods and tools to prevent fraudulent activities, thereby guaranteeing the safety of using the App Store.