Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

EU Questions Apple on Fraud Prevention After Forcing Support for Riskier App Distribution

MacRumors

MacRumors

macrumors bot
Original poster
Apr 12, 2001
69,399
40,439


The European Union is planning to query major tech companies like Apple, Google, Microsoft, and Booking.com on whether they are doing enough to prevent online financial fraud, reports Financial Times.

App-Store-vs-EU-Feature-2.jpg

European Commission tech leader Henna Virkkunen told Financial Times that the EC will ask the three tech companies for information on their efforts to block online scams that aim to steal money from Europeans. She said that financial scams are a new priority for the EC, with the commission looking to confirm that tech companies "take all their efforts to detect and prevent" fraudulent activity.

Virkkunen plans to look at how Apple and Google handle fake apps in their App Stores, like fake bank apps. Google and Microsoft will be asked about fake search results in Google Search and Bing, while Booking.com will be queried about fake listings.

The EC is just asking for information at this point, but there could be an investigation that leads to fines. The Digital Services Act allows for penalties up to six percent of a company's annual global turnover.

In a statement to MacRumors, Apple said that it has continually improved its antifraud measures to keep consumers safe from ever-evolving fraud tactics. Apple also pointed out the hypocrisy of the EU's fraud investigation when EU law mandates support for alternative app marketplaces that can skirt Apple's antifraud protections.
As digital threats have evolved in scope and complexity over the years, Apple has expanded its antifraud initiatives to address these challenges and protect users. Every day, teams across Apple monitor and investigate fraudulent activity and utilize sophisticated tools to stop bad actors. Unfortunately, the European Commission is undermining our efforts by forcing Apple to allow alternative app distribution and payments, despite warnings that this puts users at greater risk of fraud and scams. While the regulator focuses on issuing misguided and counterproductive threats of investigation and fines, we will continue to advocate for the safety and security of our users.
Click to expand...
Apple shares yearly reports on how its App Store review process prevents fraud and keeps consumers safe. In 2024, Apple said that the App Store prevented over $2 billion in fraudulent transactions. Over 146,000 developer accounts were terminated over fraud concerns, and 1.9 million App Store submissions were rejected due to security, reliability, and user experience concerns, including privacy violations and fraud concerns.

In the European Union, Apple is required to support third-party app marketplaces that allow consumers to install apps outside of the App Store. Apple has a Notarization process that checks apps for "egregious fraud," but there are far fewer rules that non-App Store apps have to follow. Apple has continuously argued that the Digital Markets Act and alternative app marketplaces in the EU expose users to fraud and weaken Apple's security standards.

Note: Due to the political or social nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Political News forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.

Article Link: EU Questions Apple on Fraud Prevention After Forcing Support for Riskier App Distribution
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2025/09/23/eu-apple-fraud-prevention-query/
Kind of silly but I get it. Yes Apple should allow 3rd party app stores and side loading. But asking them to stop this is silly, the entire point is it's your phone and you should be allowed to do what you want with it without Apple telling you what you can and cannot do. It's my phone and if I wanna install something I should be allowed to.
 
  • Disagree
  • Like
  • Haha
Reactions: Syegrayn, KeithBN, TracerAnalog and 5 others
silvertech said:
Kind of silly but I get it. Yes Apple should allow 3rd party app stores and side loading. But asking them to stop this is silly, the entire point is it's your phone and you should be allowed to do what you want with it without Apple telling you what you can and cannot do. It's my phone and if I wanna install something I should be allowed to.
Click to expand...
“‘It’s my phone, I should install anything’” is like buying a house in a gated community and demanding they bulldoze the gate but keep the 24/7 security and landscaping. Apple’s walls are part of what you purchased. If you want the open prairie, there are Android acres. Don’t ask the gardener to tear down the fence and still guarantee pest-free roses.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Syegrayn, subjonas, Jpcope and 9 others
k1121j said:
Are you serious! The EU wanted the Wild West of app stores, let those app stores deal with it. Not Apples problem in my opinion.
Click to expand...
It very much is Apple's problem, because Apple made it their problem. First off, the EU is only asking about Apple's own App Store and how it prevents scams in there. It's not asking about iOS as a platform.

However; Apple explicitly went out of its way to be malicious in how it implemented the DMA by requiring apps that want to publish in third party app stores to still be validated by them and pay for that too. If the EU wants them to answer for how scams get through that process, that is fair game too. Microsoft and Google don't do this, so it won't be a problem for them. Apple decided to create a malicious system to discourage users, and if the EU now comes knocking on their door for it, well... Karma.

Regardless, there were - and still are - plenty of apps in the App Store today that scam users into ridiculous weekly subscriptions, etc. So let's not pretend Apple is doing a very good job even in its own app store either.

It's sad to see that instead this article is clearly just jumping on Apple's bandwagon and maliciously portraying the situation and what is being asked of them, just even the title alone, and sadly the comments don't seem to be any better.
 
  • Disagree
  • Like
  • Haha
Reactions: justanotherdave, PlayUltimate, digimc and 11 others
ItsASpider said:
It very much is Apple's problem, because Apple made it their problem. First off, the EU is only asking about Apple's own App Store and how it prevents scams in there. It's not asking about iOS as a platform.

However; Apple explicitly went out of its way to be malicious in how it implemented the DMA by requiring apps that want to publish in third party app stores to still be validated by them and pay for that too. If the EU wants them to answer for how scams get through that process, that is fair game too. Microsoft and Google don't do this, so it won't be a problem for them. Apple decided to create a malicious system to discourage users, and if the EU now comes knocking on their door for it, well... Karma.

Regardless, there were - and still are - plenty of apps in the App Store today that scam users into ridiculous weekly subscriptions, etc. So let's not pretend Apple is doing a very good job even in its own app store either.
Click to expand...


It goes against the entire DSA argument by EU. The DSA is supposed to be risk-based, reasonable mitigation, not zero incidents. Language that implies strict liability for scams invites blunt over-blocking and CYA dashboards instead of calibrated controls . The DMA forced Apple to open iOS to alternative stores and direct distribution, an explicit competition choice that does expand the attack surface. You can disagree with Apple’s framing, but pretending there’s no security trade-off is unserious.

Say the quiet part out loud: we chose openness; here are the compensating controls we now demand across all channels, including alternative stores and direct downloads.
 
  • Like
Reactions: daemondust
This is ridiculous on the EU's part, but Apple is also terrible about keeping obvious scams and fake apps out of the Store so I won't cry too much for them.
 
  • Disagree
Reactions: Stevez67
EU should just pass a mandatory annual tax on large tech companies to help shore up their revenue and get it over with. No need for all these extra steps.
 
andrewxgx said:
dont get the backlash. they are asking about app store, not whats happening outside it.
if anything, having scams in app store would weaken apple's core argument about its security and fraud prevention.
Click to expand...
its the principle of their ask. Their argument was that users will accept the risk for 3rd party stores and now they are ready to fine Apple if they find any risk in their stores . If you notice they didn't once mention asking the 3rd party stores which carry the highest risk but the primary in house ones.


It is the hypocrisy of their argument in favor of the 3rd party app stores

in fact. NOW, apple can literally go to the EU supreme court and say the principles of EU DMA/DSA have changed to let us lock it back down
 
  • Like
Reactions: digimc and SpotOnT
Yeah I am sure all these scams happen to people to who use alternative stores....
Like the guy who will believe that the Nigerian prince will reward him for his kindness is smart enough to download and use a third-party store :D
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back