Apple Inc. revealed on Tuesday that its stringent App Store security measures have successfully thwarted more than $9 billion in fraudulent transactions over the past five years, with over $2 billion stopped in 2024 alone.
The technology giant disclosed that the App Store faces numerous threats, including deceptive applications designed to harvest personal information and fraudulent payment schemes aimed at exploiting unsuspecting users. In its efforts to combat these threats, Apple terminated over 46,000 developer accounts linked to fraud and rejected approximately 139,000 developer applications to prevent malicious apps from appearing on its platform.
In 2024, Apple reported notable statistics including the removal of more than 10,000 illegitimate apps found on pirate storefronts, which ranged from malware and pornography to gambling applications and pirated versions of legitimate apps. The company also stopped nearly 4.6 million attempts to install or initiate apps that were distributed illegally outside the App Store or its approved third-party marketplaces.
Additionally, Apple rejected over 1.9 million app submissions that failed to meet its stringent standards regarding security, reliability, and privacy, alongside removing over 37,000 fraudulent apps from its platform. They also took significant actions to maintain app integrity by removing more than 143 million fraudulent ratings and reviews. Apple highlighted that their systematic approach towards fraud detection has amplified over the years, contrasting their 2023 figures where they prevented over $1.8 billion in potentially fraudulent transactions and $2 billion in 2022.
Apple’s recent disclosures follow a similar report from Google, which announced earlier this year that it blocked over 2.36 million policy-violating Android apps in 2024, while also banning more than 158,000 harmful developer accounts. These updates come amid heightened scrutiny of Apple’s App Store policies, particularly a U.S. ruling requiring the company to allow iOS apps to guide users to purchase options outside the App Store.