Apple Rejected 2 Million App Store Submissions in 2025 for Security and Fraud Prevention

Summary

Apple rejected over 2 million App Store submissions and blocked 1.1 million fraudulent accounts in 2025. These actions, driven by AI and human review, prevented over $2.2 billion in potentially fraudulent transactions. Apple also deactivated 40.4 million accounts for fraud and abuse.

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Apple rejected over 2 million applications from entering the App Store in 2025 and blocked over 1.1 million fraudulent accounts from being created. These actions, a result of AI use combined with human review, led to the prevention of over $2.2 billion in potentially fraudulent transactions, the company says. Over the past six years, the company has prevented over $11 billion in potentially fraudulent transactions. “Apple’s protections not only prevent harm to users, but also allow developers to thrive in a global marketplace. Today, the App Store is a global destination that welcomes over 850 million weekly visitors across 175 storefronts,” Apple said. In addition to preventing 1.1 million fraudulent account creations, the company last year deactivated 40.4 million accounts for fraud and abuse. The company also rejected over 138,000 developer enrollments in 2025, and terminated 193,000 developer accounts suspected of fraudulent activities. Apple also took action against illicit application distribution channels, detecting and blocking 28,000 illegitimate apps on pirate storefronts that distributed malware, pirated apps, and other nefarious software.Advertisement. Scroll to continue reading. “In the last month alone, Apple has also prevented 2.9 million attempts to install or launch apps distributed illicitly outside the App Store or approved alternative app marketplaces,” the company says. Overall, the App Store received and reviewed over 9.1 million application submissions. Apple rejected over 1.2 million new apps and roughly 800,000 updates, and approved 306,000 new developers to the platform. The use of AI has allowed the company to detect complex malicious patterns and flag potentially fraudulent apps faster. These included apps engaging in bait-and-switch maneuvers, apps and updates containing hidden or undocumented features, clones, spam apps, and submissions violating Apple’s policies. Of the 1.3 billion ratings and reviews processed last year, close to 195 million were identified and blocked as being fraudulent. “Last year, Apple prevented more than $2.2 billion in fraudulent transactions, stopped more than 5.4 million stolen credit cards from being used to make fraudulent purchases, and banned nearly 2 million user accounts from transacting again,” the company says. Related: Apple Patches Dozens of Vulnerabilities in macOS, iOS Related: Apple Patches iOS Flaw Allowing Recovery of Deleted Chats Related: Dozens of Malicious Crypto Apps Land in Apple App Store Related: Apple Intelligence AI Guardrails Bypassed in New Attack Written By Ionut Arghire Ionut Arghire is an international correspondent for SecurityWeek. Daily Briefing Newsletter Subscribe to the SecurityWeek Email Briefing for the latest cybersecurity threats, trends, and expert insights. 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