Fraudulent apps on the App Store are nothing new. While Apple claims the App Store is a “trusted place” and that’s why the iPhone shouldn’t open space for third-party stores, developer Kosta Eleftheriou occasionally points out how the company Cupertino needs to do more to protect its users. fraudulent applications because Apple continues to approve them. This time the developer shows how a scam app can make a lot of money in four simple steps.
On his Twitter, Eleftheriou shows the four stages of app store scams that are simple and profitable. He writes:
- Create a basic app
- Buy enough fake ratings, ideally > 4.5 stars
- Charge $8/week after a hard-to-cancel free trial
- Advertise on social networks
Then, in four screenshots, he shows an app called “FAX from iPhone: Fax app,” which promises to make faxing from iPhone a “quick and available action on your way to other important things at TO DO”.
With 1,600 ratings with an overall rating of 4.7 out of 5, a user would obviously download this app as a service they can rely on. But when you look at the reviews, most of them give a one-star rating saying the app doesn’t work, it charges $7.99 weekly instead of monthly, and “good reviews are probably wrong.”
Although this time Apple did not highlight this application, other opportunities that the company had presented before on the App Store were scam applications. More recently, BGR covered 10 iPhone apps that were actually adware and shouldn’t be available for download.
Last but not least, Eleftheriou shows some data related to this FAX application. It had been downloaded over 132,000 times since its release last November with an earnings of $497,000. In other words, this app made half a million dollars in less than a year without even working.
Below, you can take a look at Kosta Leftheriou’s Twitter, where the developer highlights other scam apps available on the App Store.
MORE APPLE COVERAGE: For more Apple news, visit our iPhone 14 guide.
