Apple’s App Store is still full of scammers that are taking people’s money

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Apple has always maintained that the ‘closed garden’ of its iOS App Store affords security for the users, most notably at the recent Epic Games trial. That doesn’t mean it is infallible though, and a new report from the Washington Post shows that Apple’s review process often misses issues and lets scams into the App Store.

That report says that nearly two percent of the top 1,000 grossing apps included some type of scam. That list includes VPNs that lied about the user being infected with malware, before telling them to buy some other software to clean the “infection.”

It also has dating apps, QR readers, and apps claiming they’re from major names like Samsung. Some of the scam-ridden apps used fake reviews to climb up the App Store rankings, making them seem trustworthy and more popular than they actually were.

So, what’s the true cost of all of those scams? Well, the Post estimates as much as $48 million was fleeced from users, including the 30-percent cut that Apple takes from all developers on the App Store.

Twelve of the eighteen apps were removed by Apple after they were flagged, but that still means six of the top 1,000 grossing apps on the App Store are fraudulent in some way. Apple will have to get better at security if it wants to keep its market perception of being more secure than the competition.

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Joe Rice-Jones

Maker, meme-r, and unabashed geek with nearly half a decade of blogging experience at KnowTechie, SlashGear and XDA Developers. If it runs on electricity (or even if it doesn't), Joe probably has one around his office somewhere, with particular focus in gadgetry and handheld gaming. Shoot him an email at joe@knowtechie.com.