Developers accuse Apple promoting malicious apps on the App Store
App developers are criticizing the Apple after the company openly promoted malicious apps used in scams on its online store, the App Store. The programs advertised promise the same functions as legitimate apps, charge high fees for use without advertising and keep the profits while offering below-average performance.
The Australian store of Apple released a category of apps called “Slime Relaxations,” which included some apps with very high subscription fees and no apparent functionality. One of these programs, for example, “Jelly: Slime Simulator, ASMR,” charges a weekly subscription of $13 (about R$68,00, at today’s exchange rate) to remove ads. However, some of its services are stolen from another developer, who uses the codes in his own app.
https://twitter.com/BeauNouvelle/status/1422941988349825027
The scam structure is based on clause abuse
For those who believe that there is nothing wrong with charging these weekly fees, there really wouldn't be, if any service was actually provided. Furthermore, it is worth remembering that the App Store is not a free market, and Apple has specific guidelines to prevent apps, malicious or not, from charging abusive fees to their customers.
Apps may use misleading advertising and other impressions “too good to be true” to profit from the client’s ignorance. Depending on the contract, procedures like this can lead to Fleecewares installation, apps that charge excessive monthly subscription fees, even after the app is deleted.
The difficulty in avoiding fraud becomes even greater when cell phones are not used by just one person. The same advertisements can lead to the children of device owners click on these signatures, with no idea what they are doing.
Apple ensures that it continues to monitor and remove fraudulent apps
In response to events, the Apple claimed that it is actively working on removing malicious apps, deleting half a million fraudulent programs and 600 million fake reviews from its online store in 2020 alone. Also in May of this year, the company announced that its banning policy prevented users from spent US$1,5 billion in this category of fraud — which doesn't stop them from continuing to appear.
According to the developers, the reported fraudulent app took ten days to be removed from the App Store, and two from the Google Play Store (which changed its policy on the matter). in this semester). The same app accused of fraud returned to the store after the copied items were removed.
Through which channels you reach those people, classic and out of the box. ArsTechnica e The Verge
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