84 dangerous scam apps found on iPhone App Store stealing your money; check full list of apps | Tech News

84 dangerous scam apps found on iPhone App Store stealing your money; check full list of apps

Nearly 7 million iPhone users are in danger from these 84 scam apps on Apple App Store. Known as fleecewear, they are stealing money and must be deleted from phones.

By: HT TECH
| Updated on: Aug 22 2022, 13:52 IST
These dangerous 84 scam apps available on Apple App store are stealing money. 
These dangerous 84 scam apps available on Apple App store are stealing money.  (Amritanshu Mukherjee / HT Tech)
These dangerous 84 scam apps available on Apple App store are stealing money. 
These dangerous 84 scam apps available on Apple App store are stealing money.  (Amritanshu Mukherjee / HT Tech)

Apple doesn't allow users to download apps from any third-party due to safety reasons. Therefore, iPhone users have to download apps from the App store. But beware! Reportedly, as many as 84 scam apps have been found on App Store, which are tricking users out of more than $100 million annually. Shockingly, in March 2021, a list of 133 fraudulent apps with an estimated total of 500 million downloads was shared by Avast and after more than a year, 84 of them are still available on the App Store, as reported by VPN review platform VPNCheck. These scammy apps are known as fleecewear. Though they are not malicious and don't steal users' data, they come with hidden fees and charges that users never find out about. As per the report, these apps have 7.2 million downloads generating a revenue of $8.6 million every month- all stolen from iPhone users. You must check if your iPhone has any of these fleecewear apps on it.

Here is all you need to know about these Apple Fleecewears.

How does fleecewear work?

According to VPNcheck, these fleecewear apps lure iPhone users with a free trial period that comes with hidden costs. They may charge users multiple times or charge a higher amount at checkout. On top of that, once the users are subscribed, it's very tough to unsubscribe from their services, and hence they continue billing even after being uninstalled. Also, they claim that the app has been recommended by Apple, however, it's not.

How to identify these fleecewear?

The first tell-tale sign is they are mostly entertainment apps such as virtual musical tools or utilities like flashlights and calculator or fortune-telling apps, photo or video filters or editors, volume boosters, quiz-based games, or wallpapers. Secondly, there is a flood of paid 5-star reviews posted with bogus reviewer names.

What is Apple doing about these apps?

Well! Apple even after a year of reporting, hasn't taken any strong steps to control these apps and prevent them from scamming iPhone users. The tech giant has refused to do anything about these fraudulent apps.

List of fraudulent apps on Apple App store

Frames - Picture Collage Maker

Facelab - Face Editor & Beauty

TeasEar: ASMR Slime Antistress

Nebula: Horoscope & Astrology

Astroline: The Daily Horoscope

FLMX - Video Editor

Stickerfy: Sticker Maker

Pixomatic - Background eraser

SpeedPro Slow speed video edit

Music Zen - Relaxing Sounds

Sticker Maker - BeSticky

Photo To Sketch - Drawing book

Mood Balance: Self Care Tracker

Presets for Lightroom - Vidl

Jigsaw Puzzle - Brain Games

Lift: Story Maker

Dazzle - Insta stories editor

Baby Sticker- Track Milestones

Life Palmistry - AI Palm & Tag

Photoly Remove Object & Editor

Facetory: Face Yoga & Exercise

VOCHI Video Effects Editor

Lucky Life - Future Seer

Dazz Cam- D3D Photo Effect

Beat.ly Music Video Maker

UltraFX - Effect Video Maker

Girl Games: Unicorn Slime

Impresso - Insta Story Editor

PDF Scanner: Document Scan

Dizzi - Photo & Video Effects

Hyper Cleaner: Clean Phone

Highlight Story Cover Maker!

Cartoons Me - Photo Art Editor

Sweet Pics - Baby Photo Edito

Slimy: Anxiety Relief Slime 3D

Frame - Slideshow Video Maker

Auto Sticker Maker Studio

iCons - Icon Changer App +

ToonApp Cartoon Photo Editor

MagicFX - Magic Video Effects

Horoscope 2019 and Palm Reader

Handset - Second Phone Number

SlidePic - Slideshow Maker

Astro+ Horoscope & Astrology

FaceMe-Fun Personality Tests

Widget PLUS+ - Photo & Weather

aipic - Magic Photo Editor

Path - Horoscope & Astrology

Photo Collage - Collageable

Hub - Story Templates Maker

iWidget Pro : Custom widgets

Video Puzzles - Magic Puzzle

Menu Maker!

edjing Mix - dj

Guitar - Chords, Tabs & Games

Piano - Lessons & Tiles Games

WeDrum: Drums, Real Drum Games

Metronome - Tap Tempo & Rhythm

Guitar Tuner - Ukulele & Bass

Guitar - real games & lessons

Drums: Play Beats & Drum Games

Beat maker pro - DJ Drum Pad

Karaoke Songs - Voice Singing

Piano Crush - Keyboard Games

edjing Pro - music remix maker

DJ it! - Music Mixer Pad

Jambl: DJ Band & Beat Maker

Guitar Play - Games & Songs

Memoristo: Brain Test, IQ Game

Loop Maker Pro - Music Maker

Metronome Pro - Beat & Tempo

Equalizer+ HD music player

Bass Booster Volume Power Amp

Equalizer Fx: Bass Booster App

ScanGuru: PDF Document Scanner

Drink Water ∙ Daily Reminder

Password Manager - Lock Apps

Live Wallpaper Maker: 4K Theme

RECOLLECT: Color by Number

Avatar Maker Character Creator

Translator Guru: Voice & Text

Ringtones HD ∙ Ringtone Maker

Scanner App ∙ Scan & Sign PDF

 

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First Published Date: 18 Jul, 12:54 IST
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