There were 130 fraudulent app present onApple App Store in March 2021. The list was compiled and shared by researchers at Avast, the company responsible for the antivirus of the same name. A year later, 60% of those apps are still on the market.
This is no small problem, since that long list mentioned apps that were clearly designed to steal money from users, or that claimed to offer a service other than bombarding the user with spam and ads in exchange for nothing. So how come Apple, which makes the security of its ecosystem a reason to brag, is struggling so hard to keep its App Store clean?
As of June 2022, 84 out of 133 fraudulent apps identified by avast were still available in the App Store. According to Avast researchers, rogue apps distributed on iOS steal more than $100 million from users every year.
Most of the apps in the list belong to the category of so-called fleece clothing: They are not applications with illegal content by definition, but are designed to subtly drain the user’s bank account. The user is persuaded to sign, without his knowledge, for a very expensive subscription.
For example, the user can be persuaded to access the content of the app through a very attractive free trial period: 3 or even more months for free. Meanwhile, the user completely forgets that he has signed up for a free trial and that it is time to pay. At that moment the blow of a few tens of euros comes.
These apps are specifically designed to take advantage of users’ carelessness. In addition, it is not enough to delete the application to cancel the charges. The user must manually navigate to the appropriate page dedicated to App Store subscription services and then sign out from there. Developers play on the fact that a large number of users are not advanced enough to follow this procedure.
In the link in the resource you will find a full list of the fleeceware available on the Apple App Store. Our advice? Stay out.
Source: Lega Nerd
