Apple Blocked 1.6 Million Apps in 2021 To Protect Against Fraud

In 2021, Apple’s App Review team blocked more than 1.6 million risky apps and updates from the App Store for potentially defrauding users.

In the company’s first fraud prevention analysis report in 2021, the tech giant said that almost 1 million problematic new apps and close to 1 million app updates were rejected or taken down by the App Review team.

Apple has also blocked more than 343,000 iOS apps for privacy violations last year, and 157,000 more were rejected for attempting to mislead or spam users.

The tech giant also blocked over 34,500 applications from getting indexed on the App Store for using undocumented or hidden features.

Furthermore, an additional 155,000 more apps were removed for bait-and-switch tactics, like adding new features or capabilities once approved.

The company also said that it was able to shield its users from $1.5 billion of potentially fraudulent transactions in 2021. It likewise blocked more than 3.3 million stolen cards on Apple’s online store and banned almost 600,000 accounts from making transactions again on any of its platforms.

The company says that its efforts to protect customers from fraud require the monitoring and vigilance of various teams from App Review to Discovery Fraud.

“Apple is dedicated to keeping the App Store a safe and trusted place for people to discover and download apps,” the company said in this latest report.

For more information, read the original story in Bleepingcomputer.

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Jim Is and author and pud cast host with over 40 years in technology.