In a brief announcement on its Developer Portal, Apple has just informed developers that app screenshots will be locked in the App Store once the associated app has been approved.

The announcement, titled “Updating Screenshots in iTunes Connect,” states:

Beginning January 9, app screenshots will be locked in iTunes Connect once your app has been approved. New screenshots may be uploaded when you submit a binary for an update to an existing app or a new app.

This might sound unimportant to most. But it’s actually anything but inconsequential to those who are familiar with the workings of App Store scamming.

You see, App Store scammers typically carry out a kind of bait-and-switch scheme. Under this scheme, they would develop seemingly innocuous apps, usually very basic ones. Then they would have these apps approved by Apple using screenshots and descriptions that match the apps.