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Report details how scammers are abusing App Store & Search Ads
The post outlines that some “developers” are taking advantage of Apple’s in-app purchase feature, combined with App Store search ads, to game users into subscribing to illegitimate services. This includes apps such as virus scanners, password generators, and VPN apps.
The app in question, according to Sensor Tower data, brings in around $80,000 per month in revenue, despite the fact that it offers users essentially no services and makes that money by scamming them into subscription service.
In as few words as possible, here’s what these developers are doing:
Report details how scammers are abusing App Store & Search Ads
The post outlines that some “developers” are taking advantage of Apple’s in-app purchase feature, combined with App Store search ads, to game users into subscribing to illegitimate services. This includes apps such as virus scanners, password generators, and VPN apps.
I scrolled down the list in the Productivity category and saw apps from well-known companies like Dropbox, Evernote, and Microsoft. That was to be expected. But what’s this? The #10 Top Grossing Productivity app (as of June 7th, 2017) was an app called “Mobile protection :Clean & Security VPN”.
“Full Virus, Malware scanner”: What? I’m pretty sure it’s impossible for any app to scan my iPhone for viruses or malware, since third party apps are sandboxed to their own data, but let’s keep reading…
“You will pay $99.99 for a 7-day subscription”
Buried on the third line in a paragraph of text in small font, iOS casually tells me that laying my finger on the home button means I agree to start a $100 subscription.
“Full Virus, Malware scanner”: What? I’m pretty sure it’s impossible for any app to scan my iPhone for viruses or malware, since third party apps are sandboxed to their own data, but let’s keep reading…
“You will pay $99.99 for a 7-day subscription”
Buried on the third line in a paragraph of text in small font, iOS casually tells me that laying my finger on the home button means I agree to start a $100 subscription.
The app in question, according to Sensor Tower data, brings in around $80,000 per month in revenue, despite the fact that it offers users essentially no services and makes that money by scamming them into subscription service.
In as few words as possible, here’s what these developers are doing:
- Offering apps such as virus scanners and password managers
- Free download with in-app purchase for outrageously expensive prices
- Gaming search ads to be at the top of common search queries such as “virus scanner”
- Offering users virus scanning services for $99/week
- Profit $80,000 per month or $960,000 per year for seemingly doing nothing
