Fraudulent iOS Apps Still Generate Millions in App Store Revenue

The iOS apps scam issue has been bothering the Apple App Store for a few years now, but over the past two weeks, the developer Kosta Eleftheriou took to Twitter to point out that the problem remains as prominent as ever in at least some categories of apps – and also offered iOS users a way to spot them.

Taking the blatant scams of its own popular Apple Watch FlickType keyboard app as an example of how crooks prey on and exploit the work of real app developers, Eleftheriou laid out some of the ways these scams work.

Just a few months ago, I was way ahead of my competition. By the time they figured out how hard the autocorrect algorithms were, I was already rolling out the swipe version of my keyboard, quickly approaching the typing speed of the iPhone. So how did they beat me?

First, they created an app that seemed to fulfill the promise of a watch keyboard – but was virtually unusable. Then they started advertising on FB and Instagram, using my own promo video, from my own app, with my real name on it.

According to Eleftheriou, there are several clones of its FlickType app, but one of the clearest non-working scams was “KeyWatch”, which launched with a blank interface and an “Unlock Now” button. Pressing the button prompted users to confirm an $ 8 / week subscription for an app that does nothing.

According to Eleftheriou, the scam rose to prominence in the App Store by playing on Apple’s algorithmic ranking system by buying bogus ratings and rave five-star reviews, which propelled it to the top of its market. category of applications. He even advertised his software using his own promotional video, which includes his real name.

Apple has since removed the bogus app from the App Store, although the developer account is responsible for several fraudulent apps stay active. Eleftheriou says that prior to KeyWatch’s withdrawal, developers had long benefited from what had become a $ 2 million per year scam that went largely unnoticed by Apple moderators until he personally exposed it.

Since that time, Eleftheriou has been on a Twitter crusade to expose more fraudulent apps in the App Store, such as the so-called stargazing app which is called “Star Gazer +” and basically uses the same proven masquerading strategy. as a barely functional genuine app and trick users into exorbitant weekly subscription fees in the app.

At the time of writing, the fraudulent “Star Gazer +” app is still listed on the App Store with an average rating of 4.5 stars and over 80,000 reviews.

Eleftheriou’s revelation of the App Store’s creepy system has led many other developers and reviews to share their own experiences and hopefully put pressure on Apple to tighten up its app moderation and consider redesigning its interface and billing options, including the suggestion of to take off weekly subscription option in total.

Apple has yet to comment on Eleftheriou’s findings, but we’ll be sure to update this article if we hear anything.