Apple boots children's game that was front for online casino from App Store
$5,000 Welcome Bonus
— Kosta Eleftheriou (@keleftheriou) April 15, 2021
Eleftheriou highlighted how the app used "shady ads" and screenshots to convince users to download it. The only way to access the online casino was through a VPN (unless you already lived in Turkey) where users could make deposits using Mastercard, Visa, and even cryptocurrencies.
Despite multiple reviews apparently reporting that people had deposited money on the promise of bonuses never to receive anything return and a fairly wonky-looking description, the scam reportedly persisted on the App Store for "a few months", and the same developer reportedly has another such scam app.
A report from The Verge notes the App's privacy policy uses a Pastebin and is "largely" like "typical shovelware" found on the App Store.
The app was likely canned by Apple for violating Apple's guidelines regarding hidden or undocumented features, as well as the more obvious breach of support for in-app payments and deposits outwith Apple's authorized payment system.
