Apple blocked App Store users from losing over $2.2bn in fraudulent transactions during the last year and prevented over a billion accounts from being created to commit fraud.
The total of fraudulent App Store transactions Apple has blocked over the last six years now stands at more than $11.2bn.
The Apple App Store contains over 680,000 apps which are used to sell goods and services. As a widely used ecosystem which people use to make payments, cybercriminals and fraudsters will naturally attempt to target users.
Apple said that by combining human review and machine learning, it has built AI models to accelerate fraud detection and quickly evaluate new deceptive tactics used by frausters.
“As the digital landscape expands, malicious actors continue to evolve their methods, often using deceptive tactics to target consumers and legitimate businesses,” Apple said in the blog post, published on May 20.
“To outpace these challenges, Apple continuously improves its multilayered defenses, leveraging a combination of expert human review and advanced machine learning technologies to detect and stop malicious activity.”
Apple continued to face what it described as “large-scale attempts to create fraudulent accounts”.
The last year saw Apple systems block 1.1 billion fraudulent customer account creations, preventing threat actors from beginning the process of targeting users. Apple also deactivated an additional 40.4 million user accounts for fraud and abuse.
This action wasn’t limited to user accounts. Apple said that during 2025, it terminated 193,000 developer accounts over fraud concerns.
Outside of the Apple App Store, the company also took action to block 28,000 illegitimate apps on pirate storefronts. Many of these apps were clones of real apps, designed to deliver malware.
“By restricting these storefronts and illicit distribution channels, Apple also protects developers from having their apps cloned, altered, or weaponized for spreading malicious software,” Apple said.
Apple also acted to prevent 5.4 million stolen credit cards from being used to make fraudulent purchases. Nearly two million user accounts suspected of being involved in fraud were banned from the ecosystem.
Image credit: Tada Images / Shutterstock.com