Apple said it rejected over 711 million customer account creations and deactivated nearly 129 million customer accounts in 2024, blocking these risky and malicious accounts from carrying out nefarious activity.
The figures include spamming or manipulating ratings and reviews, charts, and search results that risk compromising the integrity of the App Store.
This was disclosed in the tech giant’s latest annual App Store fraud analysis, showcasing its ongoing efforts to maintain the platform as a secure marketplace for developers and users alike.
“Apple also rejected over 711 million customer account creations and deactivated nearly 129 million customer accounts last year, blocking these risky and malicious accounts from carrying out nefarious activity. That includes spamming or manipulating ratings and reviews, charts, and search results that risk compromising the integrity of the App Store,” the report said.
In 2024, Apple said it terminated more than 146,000 developer accounts over fraud concerns and rejected an additional 139,000 developer enrollments, preventing bad actors from submitting their apps to the App Store in the first place.
“This commitment to safety extends beyond the App Store, as Apple works to prevent risky software distributed by pirate storefronts from reaching users.
“In 2024, Apple detected and blocked over 10,000 illegitimate apps on pirate storefronts, which include malware, pornography apps, gambling apps, and pirated versions of legitimate apps from the App Store.
“By restricting these storefronts, Apple also protects developers from having their apps cloned, altered, or weaponised for spreading malicious software,” the report said.
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Over the past month, Apple also said it has stopped nearly 4.6 million attempts to install or launch apps distributed illicitly outside the App Store or approved third-party marketplaces.
Its efforts have prevented over $2 billion worth of fraudulent transactions on its App Store in 2024 alone, bringing the total amount blocked in the last five years to more than $9 billion.
