Apple is too slow about scam apps on the App Store

In March 2021 Avast shared a list of over 130 apps on the Apple App Store that had the “official” goal of offering a service to the user, but the hidden one was to scam him. They were interested in the money of the unfortunate, and unfortunately, the news is full of similar discoveries.

The point, however, is that according to vpncheck.org, Apple’s work to remove them or host a secure version of them on the virtual store for iPhone, iPad and Mac has proceeded and proceeded extremely slowly.

The portal estimated that over a year after the publication of the list (you can find it at the link in VIA ), about 60% of those apps still claim victims: last month 84 fraudulent apps of the 133 identified by Avast are still on the App Store to carry out their occult profession, for a turnover (but perhaps it would be better to say “scams”) which, according to the portal’s estimates, reached 8.6 million dollars in the month of June alone. Projecting the figure for the whole year, the estimate is 103.2 million dollars.

The apps in question are fleece, a label affixed to that software that is not malware in itself but which still takes possession of the money of the unfortunate through subscriptions of which the user is totally unaware, hidden in footnotes and described briefly.

They typically attract users with free trial periods to then charge for unsolicited subscriptions. Unfortunately, it is a well-established practice, which a couple of years ago we gave space to in this article.

The slowness of Apple, therefore, would weigh on the pockets of unsuspecting users, and the opinion of the portal is that it is not a coincidence. In fact, Apple earns on commissions, so every transaction made on the App Store apps, obtained by deception or not, generates an income for the company.

On the other hand, Cupertino’s declarations have always been very resolute on the issue of safety. Apple has strongly opposed the sideloading of apps, citing the reason that the user’s safety, by downloading the apps elsewhere and not from the super secure App Store, would be weakened.

To make the words credible, however, the App Store should be really armored. And it seems there is still some work to be done.

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