General public getting infected is why we have a major spam crisis, and zombie machines sending out said spam. DDoS still happens due to a lot of infected machines.
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Apple Says It Stopped $7 Billion in Fraudulent Transactions in Last 4 Years
- Thread starter MacRumors
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
buy an android, install from any app store you want.
there is no monopoly.
imagine buying a laptop and not able to install Windows, linux on it ?
imagine buying iPhone and not installing Android, windows, linux on it ?
imagine buying AMR based laptop and not able to replace that with intel processor in it ?
people complaining about iOS app store, if you don't like restrictions buy an android, install as many app stores you want.
please don't ruin it for the rest of us.
you have options, we don't.
please don't ruin it for the rest of us.
you have options, we don't.
you have a choice, Android.
Apple is not forcing you to be in Apple eco system.
Android phones are cheaper.
this is exactly what i am worried about.
People think they can save money when Apple allows third party app stores.
other businesses will make money, people won't save any money.
Honestly, is this a lot? It feels like it could be a lot, or it could be pennies. How does it compare to other stores/sites?
That would be the death of the Mac.
Keep that walled garden BS on the useless toys that are the iPad and iPhone.
Apple today shared its fourth annual fraud prevention analysis, providing insight into how the App Store's rules protect users from fraudulent apps and other security issues.
Apple says that it prevented over $1.8 billion in fraudulent transactions in 2023 alone, and $7 billion during the period from 2020 to 2023. Apple blocked more than 14 million stolen credit cards and banned more than 3.3 million accounts from further transactions.
What's important but missing here is the denominator. I am assuming this $1.8B in fraudulent transactions is the app store and IAP? If so that would be out of $90B in revenue flowing through the app store or about 2%. If so then solid work as a good credit card merchent but I bet similar to other large retailers (I suspect Amazon and Walmart deal with similar fraud levels).
By the way, interesting enough the #1 app by IAP is TikTok and their revenue from IAP is greater than all the fraud transactions Apple prevented:
Apple App Store Statistics (2025)
Key Apple App Store StatisticsApple App Store App and Game RevenueApple App Store Gaming App RevenueApple App Store App RevenueApple App Store App and Game DownloadsApple App Store Game DownloadsApple App Store App DownloadsApple App Store Download DistributionApps and Games in Apple App...
www.businessofapps.com
However, if the $1.8 B includes Apple Pay transactions then it would be quite low. I am sure Visa, MC, Amex etc stop a lot more fraud than that...
In any case, the 118,000 developer accounts closed for fraud sounds high. That's a lot of malicious developers who got pretty far through the system. Not sure I would be touting that number...
Looking at the fraudulent apps that had already been allowed, I am skeptical about these figures. Are they just figures that Apple pulling from somewhere or is this vetted by some reputed third-party? I mean, I can also say I stopped Trump from becoming the President, just saying.
epic banned itself to force all players to side load Fortnite.
I don't play Fortnite but only a matter of time before another app does the same thing
Firstly, we have all seen people crawl out of the woodwork and sue Apple for absolutely everything for years, including ridiculous things like a handful of screen issues that they claimed were such a colossal design flaw that it warranted a class action. Don’t pretend like ambulance chasing lawyers are not always swarming around.
Secondly, I don’t care if Apple is wealthy or not. I think this entire situation is absurd, and my philosophy on business does not magically end at a certain market capitalization.
What a silly comment. People make all sorts of transactions outside of the Apple world (Amazon, physical stores etc) and most of us are getting along just fine. The fact they've convinced you they've been protecting you is just faulty logic on your part.
It reminds me of an old Simpsons episode where a single bear is spotted outside of town. In a panic the town creates a "bear patrol" and puts Homer in charge. He declares the Bear Patrol successful since no more bears have been spotted in town. Lisa try's to explain to him that no bears had been spotted before so the fact there are no bears now has nothing to do with the Bear Patrol. She picks up a random rock and tells him
Lisa - "By your logic this rock is keeping Lions away since we don't see any lions"
Homer - "How much for your rock?"
Lisa - "Dad, you're missing the point"
Homer - "I'll give you $100"
Lisa - "Dad, you don't get..."
Homer - "$500!!!"
Lisa sighs and in a defeated tones says "deal..."
My point is Apples walled garden is just a very very profitable bear patrol.
considering epic games banned themselves on purpose, Fortnite players are sure being forced to sideload. did you realize that?
I wouldn’t be so sure that they would download from whatever. Remember the pandemic we had not so long ago. Everyone was giving advice what video conferencing software to use. At that time, if I remember correctly, there was a software which you couldn’t remove from your Mac. (I am looking at you Zoom).
Or was there not one which every „shady“ person was recommending to any other to use for secure communication. In reality the „shady“ person was hired from the government and the software was reporting everything to the police. I thing that was on android.
buy a car that has android software that lets you go anywhere you want.
you always had the choice of buying android
Haha… so true. That 7B number is meaningless. They don’t state the denominator and neither do anything to compare it with fraud rates on more open platforms.
Just give them a big number and they’ll eat it. How stupid do they think we are?
Quite worrying to see such a lack of scepticism in relation to Apples numbers - paper (or webpages) never refused ink (or text pixels). The full dataset will never be published so no one can verify the validity of their claims. I doubt the numbers are truly accurate as they are predicted outcomes of preventing fraud - "this fraudster "would" have gouged you out of XXX dollars if they had the chance" whereas we have absolutely no idea. Don't get me wrong, I'm not suggesting fraud doesn't happen but there's no doubt that these are idealised figures to make Apples App Store look "amazing" and its what justifies their 30% rent on every paid purchase. Tip to the fans, companies are rarely truly honest, you always have to sell your positive side and hide your negative side (until someone outs it for you) - first be sceptical, second, keep being sceptical.
Stop it, no ones forcing anyone to play Fortnite or sideload it. You can thank the EU that you can sideload Fortnite if that's what you want to do, just don't use the word "forced". If you happen to be addicted which forces you to take risks, that's something else.
Or we can just let the EU provide us with more choice, which they have done and NOW I can choose if I want to take that risk. It's a sort of a perfect system. Just not available to the rest of the world, which is a pity.
sorry, "Just don't use the app you paid a lot of $$$ on that's no longer on the App Store anymore" isn't a valid option.
rather not have gov body intervening on free markets that has valid competition.