I wish they'd make a differentiation between IAP for things like more levels and expansion packs and IAP for Accessories and IAP for consumables.
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Report Reveals In-App Purchase Scams in the App Store
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Lack of education, gullibility, innocence, neurological impairments, mental illness, cognitive disabilities, etc. That's why flagrant scams are the worst, for they victimise the most vulnerable people. Where I live scammers tend to pick frail demented old people to scam, and it's sickening.
It is $99 per week. It isn't even in the same ballpark as those subscriptions. I suspect every single person who clicks on it doesn't read the $99.99 correctly. They read it as $0.99 per week. And then they figure they can cancel if they don't like it.
I never said it wasn't.
That's the very definition of fraud.
Why? Is it less of a crime to cheat someone who is more informed and educated?
Irrelevant to the discussion.
No doubt Apple should, as they are in a position to effect sweeping top-down changes. However, I feel that efforts should also be made to educate users so they too can take the necessary precautions.
It would be convenient to simply say "someone else should do something", as though that somehow absolves us of any individual responsibility whatsoever.
Advertise?
Advertise to whom?
Nobody is going to get Android O, unless you're talking about the 2 million pixel users...
Or a "normal" person who doesn't really understand the nuts and bolts of OSes but feels the need to be proactive after reading or seeing so many stories about hackers, hijacked computers, identity theft, and the like. I know lots of smart people who are idiots when it comes to things with CPUs.
This is mostly on Apple. It is the one that erected the walled garden in the name of security. This is its failure. Let's not blame the victims here.
I disabled IAP in my resctricion settings in all my devices...
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Sounds to me like youu needed to make an excuse to justify being scammed by this very same app.. I'd really hope humanity is not this stupid..
Agreed. There should be an actual human at Apple who routinely goes down the list of apps newly arriving in, say, the top 50 grossing apps in each category. Maybe whitelist known, long-established, good players like Microsoft, etc., to have a little less to look at. Even if there are thousands of new apps a day, there shouldn't be more than a few dozen newly reaching top-grossing status. A knowledgeable/suspicious human could sanity check such a list fairly quickly, giving further testing to apps that appear to warrant it. Beyond Apple's intiial semi-automated app validation testing, they could also see what has been collectively purchased (e.g. "100 people have paid $99 for 'virus removal', wtf?!?"). If an app turns out to really be a scam, like this, remove it from the store, refund all money, and close the account. Much better for Apple, and consumers, if Apple slaps down such apps fast, rather than waiting for researchers or consumers to find and report them. It'd save money and improve the App Store's reputation.
Sound to me like your hunch machine is broken.
I'm fully versed in Mac and iOS, so no. I'd like to think I could never get scammed but none of us are infallible or all knowing. It one of the reasons I stay away from Windows and Android. Just lessens my odds getting stung. But I get that not everyone is a geek like you and me.
This is a question of credibility of the App Store and what it offers for sale.
Tricky and fraudulent apps will stoke customer fears and reduce the courage of customers to try new apps.
This issue affects the revenue streams of both Apple and its legitimate developers.
It is Apples responsibility, as well as in Apple's interest, to stop this FAST!
Tricky and fraudulent apps will stoke customer fears and reduce the courage of customers to try new apps.
This issue affects the revenue streams of both Apple and its legitimate developers.
It is Apples responsibility, as well as in Apple's interest, to stop this FAST!
However, being on staff at MR(F), you should know better than most how quickly an easily nefarious ad providers can make their way into the pool.
And the next day they start a new account, rinse & repeat.
I have to believe their approval process for new apps and updates, however it's changed, has caused problems.
Along with this article... I personally have noticed a substantial increase in the number of updates to apps, followed by another update a day later fixing a tiny, stupid issue.
This never happened before to the extent I see it now... it's like 10-15 app updates a day, and a majority are fixes to tiny problems caused by an update just a day prior.
Along with this article... I personally have noticed a substantial increase in the number of updates to apps, followed by another update a day later fixing a tiny, stupid issue.
This never happened before to the extent I see it now... it's like 10-15 app updates a day, and a majority are fixes to tiny problems caused by an update just a day prior.
While I see a lot of stupidity day to day, can we not agree that it's problematic that Apple has an approved app on their App Store that says press here for free trial and then launches a pop up that only announces that it in fact costs a bunch of money at the same time as already authenticating your purchase if you happen to be resting your finger on the home button?
I would argue that is not a clear opportunity for a user to be making an informed decision. I've seen that Touch ID pop up and disappear with next to no time to read the prompt if your finger is already on the button. And if you were being told it's to authenticate a free purchase in the lead up, you may not even think twice when that screen flashes by.
You can victim blame people all you want for not being suspicious of an "iOS antivirus", but the problem could be applied to literally any app. If a developer's intents are nefarious it sounds like they could hide a sudden payment authentication pop up behind any interaction in the hopes of catching a users finger resting on the scanner.
If you will pay attention though, sometimes, when you get an update, your phone isn't actually downloading the updated version but the version you already have. Your phone has been notified that there is a new version, but the new version hasn't made its way to your download servers quite yet.
While it's possible you're downloading hotfixes, the more likely explanation is that you're only downloading the new version the second time.
its such a blatant case of fraud that apple really should refund any money paid by any purchaser of this app.
no questions asked.
immediately.
no questions asked.
immediately.
The problem is with the 2nd Generation Touch ID it reads fingerprints so fast that the victims may not even notice the terms and conditions popping up from tapping a "Free Trial" button. Heck, you can even be trying to press the home button to try and get out of that App when it just register as a payment scan
That or the usual not reading terms and condition habit got them. Having an IAP hidden under a "Free Trial" button is intentionally misleading
This thread is bursting at the seams with everything that's wrong with virtually no suggestions or solutions; I feel like I'm listening to a TED Talk.
What, in your view, is the point of a walled-garden App Store then?
This is like someone setting up a fake display case inside Macy's and you treating it the same as if they were selling TV's under an interstate bridge.
Those are extremely different things. For you to say that asking Macy's to stop it is some sort of absurdly difficult hurdle is a bit strange.
This smells almost less like a scam and more like a front for something else.
Need to collect money for something illegal, in an inconspicuous way? Something that shows up on the books as a legitimate business transaction? Have your "associates" download your app, and collect their dues via in-app purchases at an insane weekly rate!
The part that makes me doubt this idea, though, is of course that Apple takes 30% off off the top. So it would seem a bit... inefficient... if this were really the case.
Maybe if you were to pick up a few unsuspecting scam victims along the way, it would pay for some of the overhead lost to Apple? Still seems unlikely. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Need to collect money for something illegal, in an inconspicuous way? Something that shows up on the books as a legitimate business transaction? Have your "associates" download your app, and collect their dues via in-app purchases at an insane weekly rate!
The part that makes me doubt this idea, though, is of course that Apple takes 30% off off the top. So it would seem a bit... inefficient... if this were really the case.
Maybe if you were to pick up a few unsuspecting scam victims along the way, it would pay for some of the overhead lost to Apple? Still seems unlikely. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Look at the apps from this developer... the subscriptions are ridiculous and the reviews look fake.
https://sensortower.com/ios/publisher/trong-linh/1230969289/
https://sensortower.com/ios/publisher/trong-linh/1230969289/
Low crime doesn't mean no crime.
Apple will do what they can to get rid of rogue elements in the App Store, but that doesn't absolve users of any personal responsibility whatsoever.
Whatever the way it's happening, I just looked and in the updated list (in as much as it shows), I average ~10 updates a day. It's not due to suddenly having a lot more apps. Updates are progressively happening more and more - usually by annoying devs. Most devs, with respectable apps (aka: MindNode, Things, Screens) updates come far less frequently, at the same rate as they have in the past... whereas things like UberEATS, dating apps, etc update all the time now.
I am sorry but I don't get where the "fraud" is here. Is it sneaky and over priced? Yes. But many of the replies are saying its fraud to offer antivirus on iOS. There are many anti-virus programs on iOS - https://technofizi.net/top-best-anti-virus-for-iphone-ipad-ios-free-download/ . I would not install one, but they are legitimate programs. Just because in theory a virus can't directly attack an iPhone doesn't mean that it can't be a carrier. A real anti-virus program will prevent the transfer of viruses through the system as well.
The same situation is true for every OS platform now. Microsoft ships Windows 10 with all the antivirus it needs, but people still spend millions on antivirus programs. That doesn't make it fraud. Anyone with half a brain would look at the title of the app and probably conclude if they wanted antivirus that this is not the best one to get. That said, the ratings on the app are not all terrible, so there is some level of satisfaction with it.
The story in this post said that he installed the app, and a short time later was prompted to enroll in the subscription. That sounds like it ran for some period of time for free, and then did the prompt. That sounds like a trial to me. At the point of the prompt, he could have simply hit cancel and uninstalled the app.