Scam apps prevalent in Apple store

About 2% of the 1,000 top grossing apps on the Apple App Store are scams, The Washington Post reports. Market research firm Appfigures said that such apps have earned approximately $48 million while they were still in the app store, of which Apple also had a cut. The Post's analysis also showed that "fleeceware apps" that leverage phony customer reviews to boost App Store rankings are even more prevalent. Apple has already removed two-thirds of the 18 fleeceware apps flagged by The Post. Apple has long touted the security of its App Store due to its exclusive control on the app marketplace for iOS users, but experts said that such monopoly has allowed Apple to be complacent and provide a false sense of security. "If consumers were to have access to alternative app stores or other methods of distributing software, Apple would be a lot more likely to take this problem more seriously," said Stan Miles, economics professor at Thompson Rivers University in Canada. However, Apple spokesperson Fred Sainz said that the company will continue acting against harmful apps.