FTC lawsuit reveals how subscription scam networks evade app store enforcement
FTC lawsuit reveals how subscription scam networks evade app store enforcement
FTC 诉讼揭露订阅诈骗网络如何规避应用商店监管
A new lawsuit filed by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is a showcase of how hard it’s become to police the app stores for scammy apps. The suit alleges that a company known as Genesis Tech defrauded consumers and routed revenues overseas through the use of shell companies designed to conceal its identity and hide its assets. 美国联邦贸易委员会（FTC）近日提起的一项新诉讼，展示了监管应用商店中的诈骗应用已变得多么困难。诉讼指控一家名为 Genesis Tech 的公司通过使用旨在掩盖身份和隐藏资产的空壳公司，欺诈消费者并将收入转移至海外。
Genesis Tech’s network allegedly included a series of subsidiaries incorporated in Cyprus and operating in Ukraine, which marketed its apps to U.S. consumers. Among its brands were fitness and nutrition apps MadMuscles, Harna, and Unimeal by Amo Apps Limited; PDF Guru and PDF Master from GuruDocs Limited; fashion app Lumi from Bramol Limited; horoscope app Nebula by Obrio Limited; habit and personal productivity apps under the brand Wisey by Koflimin Limited; and others. 据称，Genesis Tech 的网络包括一系列在塞浦路斯注册并在乌克兰运营的子公司，这些公司向美国消费者推销其应用。其旗下品牌包括：Amo Apps Limited 推出的健身和营养应用 MadMuscles、Harna 和 Unimeal；GuruDocs Limited 的 PDF Guru 和 PDF Master；Bramol Limited 的时尚应用 Lumi；Obrio Limited 的星座应用 Nebula；以及 Koflimin Limited 旗下 Wisey 品牌的习惯与个人效率应用等。
From early 2023 to mid-2025, these five companies’ product offerings accounted for nearly a quarter of a billion dollars in global revenue. The suit also notes that, in the 12 months ending in September 2025, the transactions through all the company’s connected PayPal accounts totaled nearly $700 million. 从 2023 年初到 2025 年年中，这五家公司的产品在全球范围内创造了近 2.5 亿美元的收入。诉讼还指出，在截至 2025 年 9 月的 12 个月内，通过该公司所有关联 PayPal 账户进行的交易总额接近 7 亿美元。
The case highlights a growing challenge for Apple and Google, as subscription scams evolve beyond individual apps into intricate networks of shell companies. Genesis Tech, for instance, registered new corporate entities and created multiple merchant accounts to hide its identity, the suit claims, and would then transfer the money it made across borders among its various corporate affiliates. By continually making new accounts, the app publisher was able to avoid fraud monitoring programs for years, the FTC explains. 此案凸显了苹果和谷歌面临的日益严峻的挑战，因为订阅诈骗已从单一应用演变为复杂的空壳公司网络。诉讼称，以 Genesis Tech 为例，该公司通过注册新的法人实体并创建多个商户账户来隐藏身份，随后在各关联公司之间进行跨境资金转移。FTC 解释说，通过不断创建新账户，该应用发布商得以多年来规避欺诈监控程序。
Like other scammy subscription apps plaguing today’s app stores that have drawn scrutiny from regulators and consumer advocates, Genesis Tech’s products made it easy to sign up but hard to cancel. While the company promoted its products as free or low-cost, consumers who signed up would instead be met with auto-renewing subscriptions. At times, the company would also charge customers for extra products without their knowledge or consent or even double-charge them. The company also made cancellation difficult by omitting cancellation options from its websites and apps, and would often continue charging customers without authorization, the FTC’s suit says. 与其他困扰当今应用商店并引起监管机构和消费者权益倡导者关注的诈骗订阅应用一样，Genesis Tech 的产品设计为“易于注册，难以取消”。虽然该公司宣传其产品是免费或低成本的，但注册后的消费者却会面临自动续费的订阅。有时，该公司还会未经用户知情或同意就向其收取额外产品费用，甚至重复扣费。FTC 的诉讼指出，该公司通过在网站和应用中隐去取消选项来增加退订难度，并经常在未经授权的情况下持续向客户扣款。
Genesis Tech’s practices violate the FTC Act and the Restore Online Shoppers’ Confidence Act (ROSCA), the complaint says. It also names Stamatis Skianis, Oksana Kucher, Iryna Oleksyn, Olga Garbuzenko, Rostyslav Ivanitsa, and Viktoriia Savchuk as co-defendants in the case, which will be tried in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. TechCrunch reached out to Genesis Tech for comment through the publicly available email addresses for the subsidiaries named in the case. A comment was not immediately provided. 诉状称，Genesis Tech 的行为违反了《联邦贸易委员会法》和《恢复在线购物者信心法》（ROSCA）。该案还将 Stamatis Skianis、Oksana Kucher、Iryna Oleksyn、Olga Garbuzenko、Rostyslav Ivanitsa 和 Viktoriia Savchuk 列为共同被告，案件将在美国加利福尼亚北区联邦地区法院审理。TechCrunch 已通过案件中提到的子公司公开电子邮件地址联系 Genesis Tech 请求置评，但未立即获得回复。
The FTC has taken mobile app makers to court before, having investigated and settled cases with the anonymous teen Q&A app NGL, dating app giant Match, gig app Handy, kids’ app maker HyperBeard, and adjacent players, like mobile ad company Tapjoy or data broker X-Mode, among others. FTC 此前曾多次将移动应用开发商告上法庭，并曾调查并和解过匿名青少年问答应用 NGL、约会应用巨头 Match、零工应用 Handy、儿童应用开发商 HyperBeard，以及移动广告公司 Tapjoy 或数据经纪商 X-Mode 等相关企业的案件。