Apple's App Store Hosted Kiddie Games With Secret Gambling Dens Inside (theverge.com) 11
According to app developer Kosta Eleftheriou, Apple's App Store hosted a kid's game that's actually a front for gambling websites. "The secret password isn't one you'd be likely to guess: you have to be in the right country -- or pretend to be in the right country using a VPN," writes Sean Hollister via The Verge. "But then, instead of launching an ugly monkey-flipping endless runner game filled with typos and bugs, the very same app launches a casino experience." From the report: The app, "Jungle Runner 2k21," has already disappeared from the App Store, presumably thanks to publicity from Gizmodo and Daring Fireball, who each wrote about Eleftheriou's finding earlier today. It's not the only one, though: the same developer, "Colin Malachi," had another incredibly basic game on the App Store called "Magical Forest - Puzzle" that was also a front for gambling. [...] I accessed them from a VPN server in Turkey; While Daring Fireball notes that users in other non-US countries like Italy also seem to have been able to access the gambling sites, I tried them with a number of other locations including Italy without success.
Unlike the multi-million dollar App Store scams that Eleftheriou uncovered earlier this year, it's not hard to see why Apple's App Store review program might have missed these -- they largely look like your typical shovelware if you don't know the trick, with only a handful of tells... like the fact that Jungle Runner uses a Pastebin for its privacy policies. It's not necessarily clear to me that they'd be violating very many of Apple's App Store policies, either. Gambling apps are permitted by Apple, as long as they're geo-restricted to regions where that gambling is permitted by law, and you could maybe argue that's exactly what this developer did by checking your IP address.
Unlike the multi-million dollar App Store scams that Eleftheriou uncovered earlier this year, it's not hard to see why Apple's App Store review program might have missed these -- they largely look like your typical shovelware if you don't know the trick, with only a handful of tells... like the fact that Jungle Runner uses a Pastebin for its privacy policies. It's not necessarily clear to me that they'd be violating very many of Apple's App Store policies, either. Gambling apps are permitted by Apple, as long as they're geo-restricted to regions where that gambling is permitted by law, and you could maybe argue that's exactly what this developer did by checking your IP address.
Re: (Score:2, Informative)
Except this app was free and the casino feature bypassed the app store as well. Apple was getting ripped off both ways.
The author of the app should join with Epic.
Re: Clown (Score:3)
Kiddie Games With Secret Gambling Dens Inside (Score:1)
What about Disney? (Score:3)
Well, a core requirement of the game was to gamble in a casino....
And you received a few free rolls or free spins with your monthly subscription to Disney's premier game service... but you could also buy more spins... which kids did... using mommy and daddy's credit cards.
The good news is, the game had parental controls turned on by default, so a child couldn't just start spinning.
The bad news is that it was common for kids to give other kids game vouchers for more spins as birthday gifts which lacked this limitation.
When I learned about this, I told my kids that I was very sorry, but they couldn't play that game anymore. They were disappointed, but they moved on.
I unfortunately had to have some uncomfortable discussions with parents who tried to convince me that there was nothing wrong with children being trained from birth to gamble in casinos so they can get things they can use to dress up pretty and show off. After all... it's Disney and you can't tell us that Disney would do something bad to children.
Thanks (Score:1)