Apple says it stopped more than $2.2 billion in potentially fraudulent App Store transactions in 2025, as the company continues to strengthen its defenses against scams, fake accounts, malicious apps, and payment fraud.
The company said its App Store is built around two main goals: giving users a secure place to discover apps and giving developers a trusted marketplace to grow their businesses. But as online threats become more advanced, Apple said it has had to keep improving its fraud detection systems using both human review teams and machine learning technology.
According to Apple, the company has prevented more than $11.2 billion in potentially fraudulent transactions over the past six years. In 2025 alone, Apple also rejected more than 2 million app submissions that failed to meet App Store rules or raised safety, privacy, or security concerns.
Apple said the App Store now receives more than 850 million visitors every week across 175 storefronts worldwide. With that scale, the company said bad actors often try to abuse the platform by creating fake accounts, posting spam, manipulating charts, generating fake reviews, or distributing harmful software.
In 2025, Apple rejected more than 1.1 billion fraudulent customer account creations and deactivated another 40.4 million customer accounts linked to fraud and abuse. The company also terminated 193,000 developer accounts over fraud concerns and rejected more than 138,000 developer enrollments.
Apple said it also blocked 28,000 illegitimate apps found on pirate storefronts. These included malware, gambling apps, pornography apps, and pirated versions of legitimate App Store apps. The company said blocking these illegal distribution channels helps protect users while also preventing developers’ apps from being copied, modified, or used to spread malicious software.
Apple also revealed that in the last month alone, it stopped 2.9 million attempts to install or launch apps distributed outside the App Store or approved alternative app marketplaces.
The company said its App Review process has also scaled as AI development tools have increased the number of app submissions. In 2025, Apple reviewed more than 9.1 million app submissions and helped bring more than 306,000 new developers to the platform.
However, Apple rejected more than 2 million submissions for failing to follow App Store Review Guidelines. This included more than 1.2 million new apps and nearly 800,000 app updates. Apple said over 371,000 submissions were rejected for being spam, copycats, or misleading, while more than 443,000 submissions were rejected for privacy violations.
Apple also removed nearly 59,000 apps that were involved in bait-and-switch tactics. These apps were initially approved as normal games or utilities, such as puzzle or calculator apps, but later changed their behavior after review to support fraud or other harmful activity.
The company said more than 22,000 app submissions were rejected for containing hidden or undocumented features. Apple also blocked more than 2.5 million TestFlight submissions from being distributed because of fraud or security concerns.
Apple said ratings and reviews remain another major area of focus because they help users decide which apps to download and help developers reach new audiences. In 2025, Apple processed more than 1.3 billion ratings and reviews and blocked close to 195 million fraudulent ratings and reviews before they appeared on the App Store.
The company also blocked nearly 7,800 deceptive apps from appearing in App Store search results and prevented another 11,500 apps from appearing on App Store charts. Apple said these actions help ensure that honest developers are not pushed aside by fake or manipulated app activity.
Payment fraud was another major focus in 2025. Apple said more than 680,000 apps now use its secure payment technologies to sell goods and services. The company said it uses encryption, human review, and machine learning to detect stolen financial information and suspicious payment activity.
Last year, Apple prevented more than $2.2 billion in fraudulent transactions, stopped more than 5.4 million stolen credit cards from being used for fraudulent purchases, and banned nearly 2 million user accounts from making future transactions.
Apple also highlighted tools designed to help families manage App Store experiences more safely. The company said it rejected more than 5,000 apps from appearing in the Kids category in 2025 because they failed to meet stricter App Store rules for children’s apps.
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Apple said it will continue investing in App Store safety and security to protect users, support developers, and keep the platform trusted as digital threats continue to evolve.
