[jollybean]

This isn't quite it.

The amount of money made by these scam apps is relatively small in the grand scheme, but the negativity associated with them can cost quite a lot, it's completely toxic to the brand. Every single person scammed will be super angry and at least on an individual level, the Apple brand is scarred, moreover, the potential for a 'media meme' is strong. Enough of these articles floating around, someone at CNN may pick p on it and then it becomes a problem. That said, because Apple is a major advertiser, they may be less concerned. (Please let's not be naive and assume that journos don't come under pressure for financial reasons).

If Apple wanted to 'make more easy money' they'd just open p a Porn section in the AppStore and 2x their revenues.

Given that Apple is OCD-level brand conscious, this is a puzzle because the marginal return is just not worth it.

This may very well be an issue of operational misfire. Big companies are often much more poorly run than we think, and though obviously Apple is exceptional in some areas, they are abysmal in others. So it may just be operational incompetence, which is a root cause of most problems in the world.