Apple Highlights How the App Store Prevents Fraud Amid Legal Battle With Epic Games

Apple today announced that, through a combination of automated technologies and human review processes, the company protected customers from more than $1.5 billion in potentially fraudulent transactions in 2020.

app store blue banner
Apple said secure payment technologies like Apple Pay and StoreKit (In-App Purchase) play an essential role in keeping users safe:

With online data breaches frustratingly common, these protections are an essential part of keeping users safe. But users may not realize that when their credit card information is breached or stolen from another source, fraudsters may turn to online marketplaces like the App Store to attempt to purchase digital goods and services that can be laundered or used for illicit purposes.

Apple focuses relentlessly on this kind of fraud as well. In 2020 alone, the fusion of sophisticated technology and human review prevented more than 3 million stolen cards from being used to purchase stolen goods and services, and banned nearly 1 million accounts from transacting again. In total, Apple protected users from more than $1.5 billion in potentially fraudulent transactions in 2020.

Apple shared a variety of additional statistics that aim to emphasize the security and privacy of the App Store, amid a high-profile trial with Fortnite creator Epic Games, which has described the App Store as a monopoly and anti-competitive. Apple said thanks to its "industry-leading antifraud efforts," the App Store is "the safest place to find and download apps," citing Nokia's 2020 Threat Intelligence Report.

Key Statistics

  • In 2020, Apple protected customers from more than $1.5 billion in potentially fraudulent transactions.
  • In 2020, nearly 1 million problematic new apps, and an additional nearly 1 million app updates, were rejected or removed from the App Store.
  • In 2020, more than 48,000 apps were rejected for containing hidden or undocumented features, and more than 150,000 apps were rejected because they were found to be spam, copycats, or misleading to users.
  • In 2020, about 95,000 apps were removed from the App Store for fraudulent violations, predominantly for bait-and-switch maneuvers.
  • In 2020, over 215,000 apps were rejected for privacy violations.
  • Apple terminated 470,000 developer accounts in 2020 and rejected an additional 205,000 developer enrollments over fraud concerns.
  • In the last month, Apple blocked more than 3.2 million instances of apps distributed illicitly through the Apple Developer Enterprise Program.

Apple said its goal is always to get new apps onto the App Store, with the company's App Review team assisting more than 180,000 new developers in launching apps in 2020. In some cases, an app might be unfinished or not functioning properly when it's submitted for approval, or it might not yet have a sufficient mechanism for moderating user-generated content. In 2020, nearly one million problematic new apps, and an additional nearly one million app updates, were rejected or removed for a range of reasons like those, according to Apple.

A smaller but significant subset of these rejections were for more egregious violations that could harm users. In 2020, Apple said its App Review team rejected more than 48,000 apps for containing hidden or undocumented features, while more than 150,000 apps were rejected because they were found to be spam, copycats, or misleading to users in ways such as manipulating them into making a purchase.

Some developers perform a "bait and switch" by fundamentally changing how the app works after the review process to evade the App Store Review Guidelines, according to Apple. When such apps are discovered, Apple said they are rejected or removed immediately from the App Store, and developers are notified of a 14-day appeals process before their Apple Developer Program accounts are permanently terminated.

In 2020, about 95,000 apps were removed from the App Store for fraudulent violations, including bait-and-switch maneuvers, according to Apple.

Apple said it terminated 470,000 developer accounts in 2020, and rejected an additional 205,000 developer enrollments over fraud concerns. The company also deactivated 244 million customer accounts due to fraudulent and abusive activity.

As for App Store reviews and ratings, Apple said it relies on a combination of machine learning, artificial intelligence, and human review by expert teams to moderate these ratings and reviews to help ensure accuracy. Since 2020, Apple said it has processed over one billion ratings and over 100 million reviews, and over 250 million ratings and reviews were removed for not meeting moderation standards.

Apple said it also recently deployed new moderation tools to verify rating and review account authenticity, to analyze written reviews for signs of fraud, and to ensure that content from deactivated accounts is removed.

During its trial against Epic Games, Apple has argued that a single, curated App Store is necessary to protect the security, privacy, reliability, and quality that customers have come to expect from the company. Epic Games, meanwhile, has argued that Apple should allow third-party app stores and direct payment options on the iPhone and iPad.

Popular Stories

iPhone 17 Pro Blue Feature Tighter Crop

iPhone 17 Pro Launching in Three Months With These 12 New Features

Saturday June 21, 2025 2:45 pm PDT by
The iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are around three months away, and there are plenty of rumors about the devices from credible sources. Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models as of June 2025:Aluminum frame: iPhone 17 Pro models are rumored to have an aluminum frame, whereas the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro models have a titanium frame, and the iPhone X...
iPhone 16 Battery Life Feature

iOS 26's New Battery Life Mode Available Only on These iPhone Models

Saturday June 21, 2025 9:02 am PDT by
Last week, we reported that iOS 26 introduces an opt-in Adaptive Power Mode on the iPhone, alongside the existing Low Power Mode. Apple says that Adaptive Power Mode can make "small performance adjustments" when necessary to extend an iPhone's battery life, including slightly lowering the display brightness or allowing some activities to "take a little longer." The full description of...
All Screen iPhone 2027 Feature 1

iPhone Reportedly Moving to All-Screen Design in Two Stages

Sunday June 22, 2025 3:58 pm PDT by
Apple has long been working towards an iPhone with an all-screen design, and it might finally achieve the feat in a few more years from now. In his Power On newsletter today, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said that Apple will shrink the size of the Dynamic Island on new iPhone models released next year. A year after that, he expects Apple to release a redesigned 20th-anniversary iPhone model....
iOS 26 Feature

Everything New in iOS 26 Beta 2

Monday June 23, 2025 2:57 pm PDT by
Apple provided developers with the second beta of iOS 26, introducing the first changes and refinements to the new operating system since it debuted after the WWDC keynote. Because we're early in the beta testing process, there are quite a few tweaks to iOS 26, which we've rounded up below. Control Center The background behind the Liquid Glass Control Center buttons has more blur, allowing...
ios 26 control center b2

iOS 26 Beta 2 Fixes Control Center Design

Monday June 23, 2025 10:58 am PDT by
With the second beta of iOS 26 that Apple provided to developers today, Apple addressed one of the major complaints that people have had with Liquid Glass. iOS 26 beta 1 on left, iOS 26 beta 2 on right The Control Center buttons are now slightly more opaque, making it easier to see the different control options even on a multicolored background. The new, more opaque look is apparent with the ...
iPhone 17 Pro Blue Feature Tighter Crop

iPhone 17 Pro's Alleged Vapor Chamber Cooling System Partly Revealed

Sunday June 22, 2025 6:37 am PDT by
Apple's upcoming iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max models are rumored to be equipped with a vapor chamber cooling system, and a leaker known as Majin Bu today shared a photo of an alleged copper thermal plate for the system. Many high-end Android smartphones like Samsung's Galaxy S25 Ultra are equipped with a vapor chamber cooling system, which can manage heat dissipation inside the...
Wi Fi WiFi General Feature

iOS 26 Adding Two New Wi-Fi Features, Allows AirDrop and AirPlay Alternatives

Saturday June 21, 2025 7:02 am PDT by
iOS 26 is gaining two new Wi-Fi features, including Captive Assist and Wi-Fi Aware. MacRumors contributor Aaron Perris discovered a reference to Captive Assist within the code for the first iOS 26 developer beta, but Apple has yet to enable the feature. It should be available by the time the software update is released later this year. In his Power On newsletter last month, Bloomberg's...
iOS 26 on Three iPhones

iOS 26 Includes These Five Smaller Features You Might Have Missed

Saturday June 21, 2025 11:18 am PDT by
While the dust is beginning to settle on the first iOS 26 beta, we continue to take a closer look at new features coming with the update. Below, we recap five smaller changes that you might have missed. Emoji Game Apple News+ subscribers in the U.S. and Canada can play a new Emoji Game, which tasks players with completing words and phrases with emoji. This is the fifth game that is...
airpods 4 blue

Apple Offering Free AirPods — Here's How to Get Them

Tuesday June 17, 2025 6:33 am PDT by
Apple is running a new promotion that offers free AirPods to qualifying customers. Now through September 30, college and university students in the U.S., Canada, Mexico, and Singapore can receive free AirPods 4 when they purchase an eligible new Mac or iPad from Apple. AirPods Pro 2 are also available at a discount. If you do not want AirPods, the promotion also offers various other...

Top Rated Comments

I7guy Avatar
54 months ago
Considering how many apps are in the app store and there is no way to lock down the app store completely without encumbering devs and users Apple does a pretty good job.:apple:
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
ArtOfWarfare Avatar
54 months ago
That's a lot of numbers with no context. How does it compare against how well other stores are addressing fraud?

Apple needs to be justifying why their store should be the only store on iOS. They don't need to merely prove that they're doing something - I don't think I ever accused Apple of doing absolutely nothing - they need to prove that they're doing significantly more than anyone else is capable of. They need to prove that by permitting downloads to come from elsewhere, there'd be a substancial increase in fraud.

As is, tons of fraud still happens on the App Store. As Apple's own executives say, it's almost as if the review process doesn't exist there's so much junk that gets through.

===

Has anyone else noticed that MacRumor's coverage of this trial doesn't look like the coverage from anywhere else? Reading MR, you'd think that Apple is winning and Epic's lawyers are totally incompetent. Reading coverage from any mainstream newsite, you'd get the opposite impression.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
applicious84 Avatar
54 months ago
Oh wow. I wonder how much Android users were defrauded and how that compares.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
TheYayAreaLiving ?️ Avatar
54 months ago
Apple is going to win! Give it up EPIC.

EPIC Fail battle.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Krizoitz Avatar
54 months ago

Well thank you Daddy Apple from protecting me from scam apps & fraud. Whatever would we have done before you came along to save us.

Oh wait......
I’ll never understand this mentality. Apple isn’t forcing you to use its products, nor are they hiding what they do. It’s no secret that the AppStore is the only way to get apps on iOS. If that’s such a horrible thing to you it’s easy to not have to deal with it, don’t get an iPhone.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
I7guy Avatar
54 months ago

Just $1.5B in "potentially fraudulent transactions in 2020"? That's an order of magnitude (or worse) less than the amount of money Apple charged iOS users for their "services". This indicates that humanity would definitely be better off without Apple services.
Seems to indicate that humanity is better off for their services. Glass half-empty or half-full, I guess.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)