How Fake Apps Trick App Store Users

Apple hosts millions of apps on the App Store, claiming its platform is a "safe and reliable" place to discover apps. While it can generally be considered a true claim, Apple is not without criticism for letting hundreds of fake apps sneak onto its platform, for millions of dollars in revenue.

In February, developer Kosta Elefherious released how many of its apps, including the popular Apple Watch keyboard, FlickType, are blatantly copied to the ‌App Store‌. Eleftheriou says that copies of its apps can trick Apple's algorithm into highlighting them by generating fake reviews and five-star reviews.

Now, Eleftheriou has unveiled another rogue app on the onApp Store‌. This time Eleftheriou sheds light on how a rogue app called "Privacy Assitant: StringVPN" uses the in-app purchase system to convince people to purchase a weekly, monthly or yearly subscription for a fake VPN service.

The deceptive app promises to offer a "complete" and "secure" VPN experience, but nothing is further from the truth. The app has a total of 104 comments and a rating of 3.5 / 5 at the time of writing this article. The best reviews praise the app as "perfect" and say it offers "the best experience ever". The number of fake reviews posted by the developer causes Apple's algorithm to increase its appearance in search results, making it easier for other users to discover and download.

However, it also has real reviews posted by users who have been scammed by the app. One user claims that the app tricked him into purchasing the $ 89,99 annual subscription without giving him the option to choose a weekly or monthly subscription and points out how the app appears to be a legitimate VPN app.

They haven't shown me the different options for weeks or months. The only option available was the annual one. I send the report to Apple to get my money back. There is no way to contact them directly [the app] and no comments are displayed when you do a Google search for this app… it looks like a "strongVPN" type app, which has a lot of positive comments.

Other comments in ‌App Store‌ describe the experience where a floating window appeared in Safari encouraging them to download the app, in order for the app to trick them into purchasing their expensive 'subscription'.

IT IS A SCAM!!!!! If you get a security warning in Safari it's a scam !!!! Under no circumstances enter your personal data in this app !!!! There is a reason why you cannot unsubscribe !!!!!

They charged me an app for a floating window. I couldn't find a way to contact and request a return. I had to contact Apple and report. They told me they would refund my money, but it hasn't arrived yet. I will continue to claim it as often as necessary!

As Eleftheriou notes, the app generates roughly $ 32 million a month by scamming users and is ranked XNUMXnd at the time of the article in the Utilities category in the App Store‌. 

There are other red flags, such as the fact that the company's website is empty and that the developer has entered a fake email address with a nonexistent domain as a 'privacy contact'.

In a previous statement, Apple said it does not "tolerate fraudulent activity in the App Store" and that it will work hard to enforce "strict rules against apps and developers trying to cheat the system." 

Apple's in-app purchase system, the center of this scam tactic, has been making headlines lately. Mainly caused by the dispute with Epic Games, which question the fact that for every purchase made within the app, Apple retains a commission of 30%.

Even in the case of the fake VPN app, Apple is making money, at the expense of scammed users.

Note: Eleftheriou's tweet and article were released on April 7. As of today (April 9), the application has already been removed from the App Store.

Opinion

It's a shame Apple, with everything at stake, is acting responsively on this App Store deal. As we have said on other occasions, you cannot stand in court proclaiming that the App Store is a safe site and that everything is manually reviewed by humans and therefore having hundreds of applications that scam users and pass through the filter so ferociously "human. »By App Store Reviewers.

In the same way we say that Microsoft does not end viruses in Windows because it does not want, that Google does not end the security holes in Android because it does not want to, or that Facebook does not end with fake news because it does I do not want, same form and with the same categorical tone we can say that Apple doesn't end up with fake apps in the App Store because it doesn't want to.

Everyone has the means, the resources and the funds to put an end to each of their problems in a radical way. If it does not happen, it is simply a real lack of willpower.

That Apple continues to leave the responsibility to the "goodwill" of the developers is nothing more than a lazy abandonment of functions.

We cannot imagine a mall in real life, where one of the stores was engaged in defrauding customers and was not held accountable for hosting the fraudulent activity.

In the case of Apple, which exercises a supposed "moral authority" over what is right and what is wrong, the right thing to do would be to take some (or all) responsibility for what happens in your home.

Everything else is a cynical posture