Apple removes fake app from store after legal threat

One week after a Chinese company began legal action against Apple, the US technology giant has backed down and removed a rogue fake app from its iTunes store.

The wealth and management firm Lufax, a well-known company from Shanghai in China, last week announced it was suing Apple for allowing a counterfeit app to be sold on iTunes App Store since July of this year.

But bowing to pressure Lufax says in a statement that it was informed by Apple that the iPhone and iPad maker had now removed the app.

“We are glad to see that Apple corrected the mistake in time,” the statement says, in a translation from Mandarin. Lufax did not however say whether it would now be dropping the lawsuit.

Apple has not released a public statement and has not immediately responded to a comment request from SecuringIndustry.com.

The case revolves around a counterfeiting firm that simply adds the word ‘App’ to the end of each business name to make it appear genuine, and Lufax says it was one of a number of companies having its genuine app used in this way.

Lufax added that it has also discovered that the solo developer of the counterfeit app appears to operate a large-scale scam operation in China.

The purpose of this scam is to manufacture fake apps in attempts to defraud customers of well-known businesses.

The app in question is no longer visible on Apple’s iTunes store.