Apple’s App Store isn’t always as reliable as the company claims. The last example comes from RockAutoan auto parts retailer, popular with home mechanics and other DIYers, who is upset that a fake app masquerading as its official app hasn’t been removed from the App Store, despite numerous complaints to Apple.
RockAuto co-founder and president Jim Taylor first became aware of the situation when customers began complaining about “annoying ads” on its app — which he said “surprised us since we don’t have an app.”
Fake RockAuto App on App Store. Image Credits: Apple (screen shot by TechCrunch)
“We discovered that someone placed an app on the Apple App Store using our logo and company information — but with misspellings and clumsy graphical features of phishing schemes,” he told TechCrunch.
On closer inspection, the fake application it doesn’t look very legit, but it’s easy to see how someone could be fooled. The App Store images show a photo of a truck with the word “Direction” across the image as if a template was hastily used and the job was unfinished. Additionally, despite the title “RockAuto” on the App Store, the app refers to itself as “RackAuto” throughout its description on the App Store.
In addition, it promises customers that “your privacy is a top priority” and that “all your data is securely stored and encrypted, giving you peace of mind.” This is not likely given the nature of this application.
The issue is not only troubling because of the app’s ability to fool at least a portion of RockAuto’s customers, but also because it undermines Apple’s messaging about how the App Store is a trusted and safe marketplace — which is why it requires reducing the number of developers. – app purchase transactions. The tech giant is fighting back against regulations such as the EU’s Digital Markets Act (DMA), arguing that these laws would put customers’ security and privacy at risk. Apple believes that customers will be at risk if they transact outside of its App Store with unknown parties. But, as these cases show, bad actors can very easily penetrate its own app market as well.
Image Credits: Fake RockAuto App on App Store. Image Credits: Apple (screen shot by TechCrunch)
Apple has so far ignored RockAuto’s requests to remove the fake app, all of which were sent through the proper channels, according to documentation the company shared with TechCrunch.
While searching for a solution to this problem, RockAuto came across a similar situation with LastPass. The password manager was also the victim of a similar scheme when a fake app pretending to be LastPass was live on the App Store for weeks. LastPass eventually had to publicly warn its customers in a blog post, as Apple still hadn’t removed the fake app until after the press coverage and LastPass’s own post went public.
Apple did not respond to requests for comment at the time. The company was not immediately available for requests for comment on RockAuto’s complaint.
Taylor says RockAuto’s customer service manager initially contacted Apple to resolve the situation. When he got no response, Taylor got involved.
“It’s mostly one-way, as the only responses we’ve had from Apple are ‘you shouldn’t have emailed, use the online form’ and ‘upload screenshots of your app store listing and your trademark listing,'” explains Taylor. , both of which RockAuto had already done, its documentation shows.
“Neither the uploaded documents nor the online form submissions responded,” Taylor noted, “not even the promised ‘case number in 24 hours’ despite multiple submissions,” he said.
Since filing the complaint on April 18, 2024, RockAuto has shared the trademark registration with Apple, emailed the company, called the number provided on Apple’s copyright infringement page, sent a DMCA takedown request, and completed its required forms Apple.
He has received nothing but automated responses and the The fake app is still live from the time of publication.
