• 2 min read
60+ hidden betting apps found on Brazil’s App Store
A 9to5Mac investigation found more than 60 App Store apps that appear harmless globally but switch to betting platforms in Brazil.
Image: 9to5Mac
More than 60 App Store apps are disguising betting platforms as simple games and utilities for users in Brazil, according to a 9to5Mac investigation.
The apps show up in rankings for categories including Navigation, Travel, and Weather, often as low-quality titles with animal-themed icons. Outside Brazil, they reportedly behave as shown in their App Store screenshots. But when opened from a Brazilian IP address, the same apps switch to online betting platforms.
9to5Mac says many of the apps share a similar pattern:
- Single-app developer accounts
- Developer names that appear common in Vietnam and other countries, rather than Brazil
- Similar, and sometimes identical, privacy policies
- No recorded updates
- App sizes of roughly 15MB
The report also points to a public GitHub repository with instructions for a Cursor agent to build these front apps. The guidance reportedly tells developers to create three to five visible interfaces, use a marketable name and an animal icon such as a dragon, ox, rabbit, rat, or tiger, and support remote routing to either the local app, an in-app web page, or an external site.
According to 9to5Mac, the repository also included instructions aimed at avoiding App Store review detection, including giving each app unique startup and remote-configuration code names so reviewers would have a harder time linking them together. Even so, Apple’s own “You Might Also Like” recommendations often grouped the suspicious apps with one another.
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The findings come as Brazil’s Ministry of Justice increases pressure on Apple and Google over unauthorized betting apps. A few days ago, the ministry gave both companies five business days to explain how they detect apps that hide or change betting features after approval, verify that operators are federally authorized, and prevent minors from accessing gambling services.
The timing is awkward for Apple. Earlier today, the company was also ordered to remove eight AI “nudify” apps from the App Store after pressure from the San Francisco City Attorney, six months after a separate Tech Transparency Project investigation found dozens of similar apps.
9to5Mac said it has contacted Apple for comment.
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via 9to5Mac
