Apple says App Store stopped $2.2B fraud in 2025

Apple said on May 20 that the App Store blocked more than $2.2 billion in potentially fraudulent transactions in 2025, the latest annual fraud tally the company uses to defend its tightly controlled app marketplace. The company said the 2025 figure brought the six-year total to more than $11.2 billion. Apple published the numbers in a newsroom update as regulators in multiple markets continue pressing the company to allow more alternative app distribution options. The release also laid out how many developer accounts, customer accounts and app submissions Apple says it removed or rejected during the year. ### How much fraud did Apple say it stopped in 2025? Apple said the App Store prevented more than $2.2 billion in potentially fraudulent transactions in 2025. The company said that total includes efforts aimed at payment fraud, fake accounts and malicious software, and said the six-year cumulative figure now exceeds $11.2 billion. (apple.com) The May 20 release follows Apple’s May 27, 2025 fraud update, when the company said it had stopped more than $2 billion in potentially fraudulent transactions in 2024 and more than $9 billion over the prior five years. The new figure marks an increase from that 2024 annual total, based on Apple’s own year-over-year disclosures. (apple.com) ### What else did Apple say it blocked besides payments? Apple said its systems rejected 1.1 billion fraudulent customer account creations in 2025 and deactivated another 40.4 million customer accounts for fraud and abuse. The company said those accounts can be used to spam users, manipulate charts or post fake reviews. (apple.com) In 2025, Apple said it terminated 193,000 developer accounts over fraud concerns and rejected more than 138,000 developer enrollments before those applicants could submit apps to the store. The company also said it detected and blocked 28,000 illegitimate apps on pirate storefronts. Apple said it prevented 2.9 million attempts in the last month alone to install or launch apps distributed outside the App Store or approved alternative marketplaces. (apple.com) The company framed that figure as part of its argument that illicit distribution channels expose users and developers to cloned or weaponized apps. ### How big was the App Review operation? Apple said App Review evaluated more than 7.7 million app submissions in 2025 using a mix of human review and machine-learning systems. The company said it rejected more than 2 million problematic submissions during the year. The 7.7 million figure appears consistent with the scale Apple reported a year earlier. (apple.com) In its 2025 fraud analysis, published on May 27, 2025, Apple said it reviewed more than 7.7 million App Store submissions in 2024 and rejected more than 1.9 million. ### Why did Apple publish the numbers now? May 20 is the publication date Apple used for its latest fraud analysis, and the company has issued similar annual App Store fraud updates in prior years. (apple.com) Apple’s 2024 report was published on May 14, 2024, and its 2025 report covering 2024 activity was published on May 27, 2025. (apple.com) The timing also comes as Apple continues to argue publicly that App Store curation and payment controls protect users. In the same release, Apple described the App Store as serving more than 850 million weekly visitors across 175 storefronts, figures it used to underscore the scale of the marketplace it polices. (apple.com) Apple’s next major public event is Worldwide Developers Conference, which the company said will begin on June 8, 2026. Any further App Store policy changes or platform updates would typically be detailed there or in separate regulatory filings and regional announcements. (apple.com 1) (apple.com 2)