Apple Says Its Apps Review Team Stopped $1.5 Billion In Fraud Last Year

As part of the ongoing Apple v Epic saga, Apple has defended its app review process and payment system, denying it provides a deterrent to competition.

Apple called its review process “an essential line of defence”, explaining how it prevented over $1.5 billion in “potentially fraudulent transactions” in 2020.

Arguing the system is in place to protect consumers and not to limit competition, Apple said that almost one million new apps, and close to a million updates of currently-available apps were rejected in 2020.

Of these, 48,000 apps were rejected for containing hidden features, 150,000 were rejected for misleading description or for attempt to dupe customers into making further purchases, and 95,000 were removed for ‘bait-and-switch’ practices, where banned features were added after an app was accepted for sale.

470,000 developer accounts were terminated in 2020, while 205,000 developer applications were rejected outright.

244 million user accounts were shut down due to fraud, while another 424 million account sign-ups were rejected for “displaying patterns consistent with fraudulent and abusive activity.”