Do developers like these actually make money? The app store close down really helped them scam ios users as no reviews were posted for a week warning of the scam. Even after over 100, 1 star "this is a scam" reviews it still climbing in the charts. New Zealand overall apps 201 ▲46 games 142 ▲26 action 33 ▲9 simulation 22 ▲3 will they get paid for the sales they made im guessing they scammed around 10 to 20k looking at app annie. most people dont bother with refunds so even if they are forced to pay back the refund requests they will still make money? ps. don't download its a scam! FarCry Black Far Cry 3 : Black Edition finally on iPhone . Game of the Week in US, Canada, Australia and United Kingdom $1.99 Buy Now Watch Media DetailsFar Cry 3 : Black Edition finally on iPhone . 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Information Seller: Genre:Adventure, Simulation Release:Dec 20, 2012 Updated:Nov 30, -0001 Version: Size:0.0 TouchArcade Rating:Unrated User Rating:Unrated Your Rating:unrated Compatibility:HD Universal psj3809 Moderator Jan 13, 2011 12,800 592 113 England #2 psj3809, Jan 2, 2013 Sure they do make money as people keep releasing them (Same for scam emails, surely even today idiots still think they can get a cheap iphone for $100 by sending money via western union to some guy with a hotmail account !) Apple are good at refunding i must admit (not that i've bought scam apps) but its depressing to see how many get through generally. Or the 'trick' ones, eg theres one app which looks like it has 20 arcade games from the 80's in it, read the description carefully and at the bottom it says 'just screenshots, does not contain actual games', but thats the way they trick people. I've always done a few searches online/youtube/company website etc and you soon work out if its probably fake or not. On the other hand 'a few' people are stupid enough to keep buying these scam apps, i mean this games 6 meg (!?!) and if it was legit there would have been PR all over the place when theres none. Yet still people are 'fooled' ! ThreeCubes Well-Known Member Oct 13, 2012 743 0 0 #3 ThreeCubes, Jan 2, 2013 Sadly most of the ios comunity are not as savy as our freinds on the touch arcade forums. its a shame that the first question anybody asks about a new game release is "is it a scam" Apple just need to approve screenshots better, I know that the devs are changing the screenshots after apple review the app but any screenshots changes after approval are not checked (maybe just for porn). Apple may just refuse to pay out to these scammers anything but im not sure what actually happens, is it taken down and they keep what they have made? Foursaken_Media Well-Known Member Patreon Indie Jan 17, 2010 3,421 30 48 Raleigh, NC http://www.foursakenmedia.com #4 Foursaken_Media, Jan 2, 2013 They definitely make money... I see them popping up all the time in the top 200 (at least a couple hundred bucks a day)... especially when you consider their development costs are practically $0 I think one key thing to take away from this is that reviews in the app store simply do not matter (it might impact a sale here and there, but that's about it). I can't even count the number of games with 1 star averages that have catapulted up the charts bc of pretty screens and a misleading name, or conversely all the games that have really good reviews and still do poorly. psj3809 Moderator Jan 13, 2011 12,800 592 113 England #5 psj3809, Jan 2, 2013 I used to check reviews about games on the app store but now i dont bother I mean with apps like this people posting 1 star reviews saying 'scam' is obviously helpful but the main reason i dont bother checking itunes reviews is so many seem to be fake. So many seem to be 'write a nice review and get 500 coins' or just small one liners for some strange random games which must be some sort of 'scam' or something with lots of friends/marketing companies somehow adding lots of 5/5 reviews all the time. I see them on here all the time 'write us a nice review and you could win a 15 dollar giftcard' and out they come with all the 'this app simulating staring at paint drying is the best app ever 5/5' etc. Shameful. Scam apps are obviously bad but so are scam reviews ThreeCubes Well-Known Member Oct 13, 2012 743 0 0 #6 ThreeCubes, Jan 6, 2013 For the record this has now been removed by apple. I would love to know if they will get to keep the money they did scam (10-20k) AlienSpace Well-Known Member May 28, 2010 416 0 16 Independent developer http://www.facebook.com/pages/Alien-Space/317119518856 #7 AlienSpace, Jan 6, 2013 i wonder what Apple's policy is for these scam apps. If I were them and found such an app, I'd automatically refund everyone who bought it without waiting for refund requests. I'd also look carefully at any other apps from the dev. If I saw even one more scam app, I'd take them all down and ban the dev... after also automatically refunding everyone that bought any of their apps. ThreeCubes Well-Known Member Oct 13, 2012 743 0 0 #8 ThreeCubes, Jan 13, 2013 Well it looks like this won't happen again as apple have now locked down the screenshots when an app is approved http://www.imore.com/apple-removes-anytime-screenshot-updates-combat-scam-apps even though this is bad for developers i don't blame apple for doing it. Therealtrebitsch Well-Known Member Mar 2, 2010 547 0 0 #9 Therealtrebitsch, Jan 14, 2013 Last edited: Jan 14, 2013 I made a high quality spam app (not scam) once. A scanner app. It doesn't make much money. Maybe $10 a day with ADs. I know somebody, who downloads 5 images from the net about a celebrity. He then puts it into a "wallpaper app" and sells it for a few bucks. People buy it actually, although he doesn't scam them. The apps are clearly marked as wallpaper apps. He had 1 or 2 accounts banned due to copyright infringement, but he still got his money from apple in the 10k range. He easily bought a new account and started over. So they make money. Not just because they scam, but because people actually are stupid and they even buy a so called wallpaper app, although they could set those images as wallpapers manually for free. In my opinion those, who let themselves scam, they also deserve it. If they could avoid it by reading the first 10 reviews, then they deserve it even more. baris Well-Known Member Jul 30, 2010 252 0 16 #10 baris, Jan 14, 2013 And the new iTunes makes it even harder to look at reviews. I used to look at reviews quite a bit, but now it's an extra click (and with a bland text color) so I often forget/don't bother to. I don't use the iPhone to browse the App Store as much, so I'm not sure if the changes have a similar effect there. Hercule Well-Known Member Dec 16, 2010 240 0 0 #11 Hercule, Jan 14, 2013 You may search a moral excuse of doing bad things to other people for yourself. But no one deserved to be scamed... Therealtrebitsch Well-Known Member Mar 2, 2010 547 0 0 #12 Therealtrebitsch, Jan 14, 2013 Last edited: Jan 14, 2013 I don't scam people. Rather the opposite. I am always trying to be honest and give more, than taking and I would hang scammers immediately if I would be allowed, but I don't pity idiots, who are not even able to breath alone and only advanced medicine keep them alive not to speak of recognizing the world they live in and act accordingly. I was never scammed. Why? I was very near a few times, but I always look first before I handle. As a developer I never took the easy road. I was thinking about it, knowing how it works and knowing that I can get away with it, but still never did, because I like to like what I see in the mirror. So no, I don't look for excuses. I just wish, idiots would die so I would have more parking lots in my street. Sorry if I sound too extreme to you, but life teached me... (You must log in or sign up to post here.) Show Ignored Content Share This Page Tweet Your name or email address: Do you already have an account? No, create an account now. Yes, my password is: Forgot your password? Stay logged in
Sure they do make money as people keep releasing them (Same for scam emails, surely even today idiots still think they can get a cheap iphone for $100 by sending money via western union to some guy with a hotmail account !) Apple are good at refunding i must admit (not that i've bought scam apps) but its depressing to see how many get through generally. Or the 'trick' ones, eg theres one app which looks like it has 20 arcade games from the 80's in it, read the description carefully and at the bottom it says 'just screenshots, does not contain actual games', but thats the way they trick people. I've always done a few searches online/youtube/company website etc and you soon work out if its probably fake or not. On the other hand 'a few' people are stupid enough to keep buying these scam apps, i mean this games 6 meg (!?!) and if it was legit there would have been PR all over the place when theres none. Yet still people are 'fooled' !
Sadly most of the ios comunity are not as savy as our freinds on the touch arcade forums. its a shame that the first question anybody asks about a new game release is "is it a scam" Apple just need to approve screenshots better, I know that the devs are changing the screenshots after apple review the app but any screenshots changes after approval are not checked (maybe just for porn). Apple may just refuse to pay out to these scammers anything but im not sure what actually happens, is it taken down and they keep what they have made?
They definitely make money... I see them popping up all the time in the top 200 (at least a couple hundred bucks a day)... especially when you consider their development costs are practically $0 I think one key thing to take away from this is that reviews in the app store simply do not matter (it might impact a sale here and there, but that's about it). I can't even count the number of games with 1 star averages that have catapulted up the charts bc of pretty screens and a misleading name, or conversely all the games that have really good reviews and still do poorly.
I used to check reviews about games on the app store but now i dont bother I mean with apps like this people posting 1 star reviews saying 'scam' is obviously helpful but the main reason i dont bother checking itunes reviews is so many seem to be fake. So many seem to be 'write a nice review and get 500 coins' or just small one liners for some strange random games which must be some sort of 'scam' or something with lots of friends/marketing companies somehow adding lots of 5/5 reviews all the time. I see them on here all the time 'write us a nice review and you could win a 15 dollar giftcard' and out they come with all the 'this app simulating staring at paint drying is the best app ever 5/5' etc. Shameful. Scam apps are obviously bad but so are scam reviews
For the record this has now been removed by apple. I would love to know if they will get to keep the money they did scam (10-20k)
i wonder what Apple's policy is for these scam apps. If I were them and found such an app, I'd automatically refund everyone who bought it without waiting for refund requests. I'd also look carefully at any other apps from the dev. If I saw even one more scam app, I'd take them all down and ban the dev... after also automatically refunding everyone that bought any of their apps.
Well it looks like this won't happen again as apple have now locked down the screenshots when an app is approved http://www.imore.com/apple-removes-anytime-screenshot-updates-combat-scam-apps even though this is bad for developers i don't blame apple for doing it.
I made a high quality spam app (not scam) once. A scanner app. It doesn't make much money. Maybe $10 a day with ADs. I know somebody, who downloads 5 images from the net about a celebrity. He then puts it into a "wallpaper app" and sells it for a few bucks. People buy it actually, although he doesn't scam them. The apps are clearly marked as wallpaper apps. He had 1 or 2 accounts banned due to copyright infringement, but he still got his money from apple in the 10k range. He easily bought a new account and started over. So they make money. Not just because they scam, but because people actually are stupid and they even buy a so called wallpaper app, although they could set those images as wallpapers manually for free. In my opinion those, who let themselves scam, they also deserve it. If they could avoid it by reading the first 10 reviews, then they deserve it even more.
And the new iTunes makes it even harder to look at reviews. I used to look at reviews quite a bit, but now it's an extra click (and with a bland text color) so I often forget/don't bother to. I don't use the iPhone to browse the App Store as much, so I'm not sure if the changes have a similar effect there.
You may search a moral excuse of doing bad things to other people for yourself. But no one deserved to be scamed...
I don't scam people. Rather the opposite. I am always trying to be honest and give more, than taking and I would hang scammers immediately if I would be allowed, but I don't pity idiots, who are not even able to breath alone and only advanced medicine keep them alive not to speak of recognizing the world they live in and act accordingly. I was never scammed. Why? I was very near a few times, but I always look first before I handle. As a developer I never took the easy road. I was thinking about it, knowing how it works and knowing that I can get away with it, but still never did, because I like to like what I see in the mirror. So no, I don't look for excuses. I just wish, idiots would die so I would have more parking lots in my street. Sorry if I sound too extreme to you, but life teached me...