How the rewards app Freecash scammed its way to the top of the app stores

Freecash, a rewards app that reached #2 on the US App Store via TikTok marketing, operated as a data harvesting operation collecting race, religion, sexual orientation, health, and biometric data to broker mobile game installations. Malwarebytes and Wired investigations exposed deceptive marketing and aggressive spending nudges. Apple removed the app after TechCrunch reporting; TikTok had already pulled ads for financial misrepresentation violations.