UPDATE - Apple says it blocked $1.5 billion fraudulent transactions from App Store in 2021

 Device maker, Apple has said that it blocked transactions worth $1.5 billion on

its App Store last year to protect its users. According to the company, the transactions were suspected to be fraudulent and capable of putting millions of App Store users at risk.

In addition, the company stopped over 1.6 million risky and vulnerable apps and app updates from defrauding users. Apple says it would continue this effort in keeping the App Store as a safe and trusted place for people to discover and download apps.

It adds that a key pillar in that effort is Apple’s ongoing work detecting and taking action against bad actors who seek to defraud developers and users.

What Apple is saying 

The device maker, in an update released on its website, said: “Bad actors continue to evolve their methods of online fraud, often making their schemes harder to recognize. That is why Apple has continued to refine its processes, create new ones, and engineer solutions to take on these threats.” 

• “Last year, Apple released an inaugural fraud prevention analysis, which showed that in 2020 alone, Apple’s combination of sophisticated technology and human expertise protected customers from more than $1.5 billion in potentially fraudulent transactions, preventing the attempted theft of their money, information, and time — and kept nearly a million problematic new apps out of their hands. 
• “Today, Apple is releasing an annual update to that analysis: In 2021, Apple protected customers from nearly $1.5 billion in potentially fraudulent transactions and stopped over 1.6 million risky and vulnerable apps and app updates from defrauding users,” it added.
• “Apple’s efforts to prevent and reduce fraud on the App Store require continuous monitoring and vigilance across multiple teams. From App Review to Discovery Fraud, Apple’s ongoing commitment to protect users from fraudulent app activity demonstrates once again why independent, respected security experts have said the App Store is the safest place to find and download apps,” the company stated in the update.