Swiss software firm Mogo has a novel strategy, for iPhone apps! Step one: Release a free version of your paid app. Step two: Use it to secretly steal users’ phone numbers. Step three: Call them, obnoxiously. Step four: Profit!

We’re all used to a little in-app upselling by now, but hey, coders gotta eat. For an app developer to call your phone and harangue you into upgrading to a paid version of their software, however, is really brazen, and something Apple shouldn’t tolerate. So, how was MoGo pulling this off? Mac4Ever looked into it, and it’s dead simple:

[A]fter deep investigation, it appears that programmers are able to retrieve the personal iPhone’s user number, with one unique line of code! This data can then be sent to remote databases, which collect personal information, without notifying the user.

At any rate, this is less of a case of malicious software than it is general dickishness. The app, a police radar warning dealy called MogoRoad, is still live in the store, though I suspect—or really, hope—that won’t be that case for too long. [Mac4Ever via Macenstein]

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