Scams are prevelant in "money making" games
Games that supposedly pay money, from my experience, are almost all scams. They either set a level you have to reach before cashing out, then make that level impossible to beat, or they add more and more tasks before you can collect your winnings (all the while subjecting you to more and more ads), or they simply don't pay.
Some of the ones I've experienced this with are:
Pirate Battle - by Bluff Tor Stables LLC
On Feb 9th I cashed in $1000 via PayPal. On Feb 12th the PayPal payment record in the game showed "waiting - review 23:29:11
On Feb 9th I also cashed in $2000 via PayPal. On Feb 12 the game showed "processing- review 23:41:12.
It would appear the game will never pay out.
Bucket Counting Game by Moustafa Mahmoud
On Feb 9th I cashed in $20 via PayPal. On Feb 12, the record which is mostly hidden behind other levels, displayed a sticker on it saying "has withdrawn $20". Clicking on the visible portion pops up a message that says "You already withdrew the money."
Zongzi Counting Game by Preshla Rao
On Feb 9th I cashed in $20 via PayPal. On Feb 12, the record which is mostly hidden behind other levels, displayed a sticker on it saying "has withdrawn $20". Clicking on the visible portion pops up a message that says "You already withdrew the money."
Quiz Rush Pro by Popcorn GmbH
Feb 10th withdrew $800 via PayPal. On Feb 12 the withdrawal record showed "processing".
There is a note at the bottom of the page that says "Cash will arrive in your account within 24 hours or as soon as possible.
Fortune Scratch by Eurochem Pakistan Private Ltd
On Feb 10th I withdrew $1000 via PayPal. I checked on Feb 12th but couldn't find any record of the withdrawl.
Similar to Quiz Rush there is a note at the bottom of the page that says "Cash will arrive in your account within 24 hours or as soon as possible.
These are only a very small number of the scam games I've found in the Apple App Store. To make matters worse, most of the games, when you look at them in the App Store only display a single, very positive review. It's only when you expand the Review Area that you see a plethora of complaints about the game scamming.
It was my understanding that Apple reviews all apps before adding them to the app store. If that is the case, they are complicit in perpetrating these scams... I would go further and say that each of these scams is indeed a fraud (under the Criminal Code in Canada. I can't speak to each of the States' legislation.)
If Apple would like to hire someone to go through all of the gaming games in the App Store and flag the ones that are scams, I'm volunteering for a modest fee. 😋
iPhone SE, iOS 18
