Analysis: eighteen, or nearly 2%, of the 1,000 highest grossing apps on the App Store are scams; according to Appfigures data, the apps may have cost users $48M
harder than manipulating App Store search — or get users to visit maliciously crafted web sites with misleading ads, and trick them into Simon Willison / @simonw : I'm in the Washington Post today - quoted in a story on their home! https://www.washingtonpost.com/ ... (It's about how I fell for an App Store scam and paid $19 for a remote control app. Someone on HN has already suggested I “barely have the skills of my grandma”, so that's fun) https://twitter.com/... Kosta Eleftheriou / @keleftheriou : I'm proud to have helped The Washington Post with their analysis, and even more proud to see it make the homepage today. Thank you @ReedAlbergotti, @chrisalcantara, @patrickwardle, @simonw, @CorelliumHQ, and everyone else who made it happen. 🙌 https://www.washingtonpost.com/ ... https://twitter.com/... Reed Albergotti / @reedalbergotti : And remember, we're only taking the very top grossing apps. These are the cream of the crop out of the 1.8 million, many of which wouldn't even be on our radar because they don't make money from in-app payments. There are scams, like phishing apps, that we didn't even address. Reed Albergotti / @reedalbergotti : That doesn't sound like a lot. Just 2% right? Apple said it's ok with that percentage. But let's take a step back and think about this. Apple says it “curates” the App Store. Most people think curation means every App has Apple's stamp of approval. Corellium / @corelliumhq : Fantastic article by @washingtonpost's @ReedAlbergotti, who used Corellium to discover malware, scams, and scareware in the iOS AppStore and report it to Apple https://www.washingtonpost.com/ ... Kosta Eleftheriou / @keleftheriou : Glad to see mainstream press picking up on this. “Eleftheriou says he has heard from dozens of other app developers who are afraid of exposing scams themselves for fear of upsetting Apple. He tweets about the scams, often prompting Apple to delete them.” https://www.washingtonpost.com/ ... Christina Passariello / @cpassariello : Nearly 2 percent of Apple's top apps are scams, @ReedAlbergotti found. Why do so many people fall for them? Apple's monopoly over how consumers access apps on iPhones creates an environment that gives them a false sense of safety. https://www.washingtonpost.com/ ... Reed Albergotti / @reedalbergotti : On the day of Apple's testimony in front of the senate, when Apple said it does everything in its power to stop scams on the App Store, we found about 2% of the top 1k grossing apps were tricking consumers and taking their money. (thread) https://www.washingtonpost.com/ ...
Washington Post
Context & Ripple Effects
The analysis adds a quantified measure to an already visible enforcement problem: a developer had documented scam lookalikes flourishing on the App Store amid lax enforcement and fake reviews. Earlier coverage also described deceptive security apps using App Store search ads to steer users into costly subscriptions.
By finding alleged scams among the store's highest-grossing apps, the Appfigures data shifts the issue from isolated bad listings to a trust and ranking problem in Apple’s paid distribution channel.
First-order effects
Users of the identified apps face the reported $48 million in losses, while Apple must defend why apps alleged to be scams reached the top-grossing rankings.
Legitimate developers in categories targeted by lookalikes and scareware must compete against apps that can use misleading positioning, fake reviews, or subscription tactics to capture demand.
Apple’s argument that its App Store commissions are not anti-competitive faces a more difficult trust question when the same controlled channel is reported to monetize alleged scams.
Third-order effects
If high-grossing scam listings persist, App Store curation becomes less of a differentiator and more of a governance liability, increasing pressure to make discovery and enforcement systems accountable.
The pattern points toward platform safety being judged not only by whether harmful apps are removed, but by whether ranking and monetization systems prevent them from scaling.
The trend: App-store governance is moving from policing individual malicious listings toward scrutiny of the discovery, review, and payment mechanisms that let deceptive apps become commercially significant.
Indeed, this would be the smoking gun. Epic didn't turn up a single internal Apple email or slide deck that I can see talking about app store profitability. Billings yes. Fraud and scams yes. but not profits...
We know there are scams on the store. We know Apple used to have a far bigger problem, 7-8 years ago, as the store scaled, badly. We don't really have any numbers now (and Epic fail to produce any). https://www.washingtonpost.com/ ...
I'm proud to have helped The Washington Post with their analysis, and even more proud to see it make the homepage today. Thank you @ReedAlbergotti, @chrisalcantara, @patrickwardle, @simonw, @CorelliumHQ, and everyone else who made it happen. 🙌 https://www.washingtonpost.com/ ... …
I don't think most people understand the economics of scams. Everything about App Store that supposedly makes it easier for developers to reach and sell to customers makes it easier for scams. In fact, it's easier for scams than for honest devs, because the latter won't buy fake
a legitimate trusted payment provider, because Apple *is* the legitimate “trusted” payment provider already. Put simply, the return on investment for scams is higher in App Store than from the open internet, e.g., Mac or Windows. Centralization of installation *favors* scammers.
I'm in the Washington Post today - quoted in a story on their home! https://www.washingtonpost.com/ ... (It's about how I fell for an App Store scam and paid $19 for a remote control app. Someone on HN has already suggested I “barely have the skills of my grandma”, so that's fun)…
Behold the dreck on Apple's app store. If there were competing iPhone app stores, would this be better, or would there just be more places to be hoodwinked? https://www.washingtonpost.com/ ...
ratings/reviews, write misleading descriptions, manipulate keywords, etc. The cost of acquiring customers and getting them to pay is lower for scammers in the App Store than in the so-called “wild west”. Apple handles payments, so scammers don't need a business relationship with
There are of course scams on the Mac outside the App Store. But the idea that App Store reduces the volume of scams is the complete opposite of the truth. For indie Mac devs, recommendations and word of mouth are the primary means of discovery. But scams don't recommendations or
word of mouth. So it's actually harder for scammers outside the App Store than inside the App Store. They have to manipulate Google search — harder than manipulating App Store search — or get users to visit maliciously crafted web sites with misleading ads, and trick them into
And remember, we're only taking the very top grossing apps. These are the cream of the crop out of the 1.8 million, many of which wouldn't even be on our radar because they don't make money from in-app payments. There are scams, like phishing apps, that we didn't even address.
That doesn't sound like a lot. Just 2% right? Apple said it's ok with that percentage. But let's take a step back and think about this. Apple says it “curates” the App Store. Most people think curation means every App has Apple's stamp of approval.
Fantastic article by @washingtonpost's @ReedAlbergotti, who used Corellium to discover malware, scams, and scareware in the iOS AppStore and report it to Apple https://www.washingtonpost.com/ ...
Glad to see mainstream press picking up on this. “Eleftheriou says he has heard from dozens of other app developers who are afraid of exposing scams themselves for fear of upsetting Apple. He tweets about the scams, often prompting Apple to delete them.” https://www.washingtonpos…
Nearly 2 percent of Apple's top apps are scams, @ReedAlbergotti found. Why do so many people fall for them? Apple's monopoly over how consumers access apps on iPhones creates an environment that gives them a false sense of safety. https://www.washingtonpost.com/ ...
On the day of Apple's testimony in front of the senate, when Apple said it does everything in its power to stop scams on the App Store, we found about 2% of the top 1k grossing apps were tricking consumers and taking their money. (thread) https://www.washingtonpost.com/ ...