A fake 4.9 rating in a screenshot Apple says it reviews

Jeff Johnson, the developer behind the StopTheMadness Safari extension, says "obvious" App Store ratings fraud is passing App Store review despite Apple's claims that it checks listings ^[1]. His documented example is narrow and awkward for Apple, because the false claim sat in exactly the material Apple says it inspects ^[7].

Johnson pointed to TabControl Extension, which he says was the #12 top paid Safari extension in the US Mac App Store when he came across it ^[3][4]. The listing, he says, uses a fake screenshot that appears to be AI-generated ^[5], and that screenshot displays "4.9 out of 5" stars in a way that reads as the app's App Store user rating ^[6]. Johnson notes that when a developer submits an app, Apple reviews not only the app but the listing and metadata including screenshots, and that the claims in scam app screenshots are often obviously ridiculous yet get approved anyway ^[7]. He adds that Apple holds the record of all ratings and reviews in every country, so the "4.9 out of 5" should have been a red flag, and that he did not have to download the app to conclude the developer was attempting fraud ^[8]. "Apple claims that its App Store protects users from dishonest developers," he wrote. "If App Store review is not doing this work, then what the hell are they doing?" ^[9]

This is the part that matters beyond one extension. Apple has resisted every antitrust move involving third-party app stores and sideloading on iPhone, relenting only where law compelled it and continuing to contest the ground ^[12], and it says the motivation is protecting users from malware rather than money ^[13]. The supporting number is fraud prevention: Apple says the App Store has been a safe and trusted place since 2008 and has prevented over $9 billion in fraudulent transactions in the last five years, including over $2 billion in 2024 alone, according to its annual App Store fraud analysis ^[11]. That 2024 figure is roughly 22 percent of the five-year total ^[19], meaning the other four years averaged about $1.75 billion and 2024 ran about 14 percent above that pace ^[20]. Those are transaction-blocking numbers. They say nothing about whether a listing's advertised star rating matches the ratings Apple itself stores.

Ratings manipulation is not a new discovery here. Companies in China rent out iPhone farms to download apps and post five-star ratings ^[16], and developers have disputed the safe-marketplace framing by pointing to multi-million dollar scams ^[14]. Last month three customers sued Apple after a fake wallet app wiped out their Bitcoin ^[15]. Johnson's own point about consequence is practical: a developer who lies to make the sale is not one you want holding your browsing data ^[10].

Watch whether Apple adds a ranking-triggered re-review, which 9to5Mac argues should happen automatically when an app hits any top chart position ^[18]. Watch also whether anyone at Apple can explain the specific approval, since 9to5Mac's own assessment is that fake reviews are common enough and this case obvious enough that the extension's clearance is hard to account for ^[17]. A cheap automated check comparing advertised ratings in screenshots against Apple's stored ratings would close this particular gap, and the absence of one is the story.