Apple has built a strong reputation for security, and despite criticisms of its closed ecosystem, particularly from the EU, the company remains committed to maintaining a safe App Store. Recent statistics reveal the extent of Apple’s fraud prevention efforts over the past five years.
According to their latest App Store fraud report, Apple has blocked over $9 billion in fraudulent transactions since 2019, with more than $2 billion prevented just in 2024. In this battle against fraud, Apple has taken significant steps, terminating 146,000 suspicious developer accounts and blocking 129 million customer accounts in 2024 alone.
The company employs a combination of machine learning and human reviews to combat issues such as spam, review manipulation, and deceptive ratings. Apple’s efforts extend beyond App Store accounts to include pirate websites that distribute malware and pirated apps.
In 2024, the company prohibited over 10,000 rogue applications and thwarted around 4.6 million attempts to install apps from unapproved sources. The App Review team rigorously screens every app submission, reportedly checking approximately 150,000 each week and reviewing over 7.7 million in total for 2024.
Of these, 1.9 million apps were rejected for various reasons, including privacy violations, hidden features, and misleading content. Additionally, Apple is cracking down on discovery fraud by filtering out fake downloads and paid reviews.
In 2024, the company processed over 1.2 billion ratings and removed more than 143 million fraudulent entries. On the financial security front, Apple thwarted over $2 billion in fraudulent payments in 2024.
Its tools, like Apple Pay, are designed with robust security measures, ensuring transactions remain encrypted. Apple’s annual report on fraud comes at a crucial time amid increasing regulatory scrutiny, particularly following EU mandates to allow third-party app stores.