Bitcoin Forum

With a series of threads I want to draw more attention to all the scams in the crypto-scene to better protect all attentive newbies from fraud.

From time to time there have been fake Apps in the Apple Store or Google Play, where users lost their Bitcoins that they tried to send to these wallets.

Here is a case (https://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/4wj5xg/help_my_friend_lost_19_coins_on_breadwallet/), where a user lost 19 Bitcoin to a fake wallet:

"Help! My friend lost 19 coins on breadwallet! He lived on the otherside of the world and wanted to put some $ into bitcoin so I helped him buy and told him to download breadwallet. I sent $1 as a test. Then $15,000 aud. The next morning there's a sent transaction for the whole amount. He doesn't even know how to send yet and didn't plan to. Help! What's our recourse!"
"Are you sure your friend downloaded breadwallet by breadwallet LLC, and not the imposter scam app that was briefly in the app store last weekend?"
"On closer inspection of his iTunes purchases it doesn't have the LLC but it's identical in every other way. So fucked up Apple lets that shit through!"

To prevent these situations, you should consider using tried systems, and always use original links. Here are 6 things to keep in mind when trying out a new wallet:

1. Check on bitcoin.org to see which wallets are most trustworthy and used by the community.
2. Use links from the original pages, and make sure to not land on phishing-copies which look exactly like the original sites (check URL)
3. Check the reviews of the App. These can also be manipulated, but the probability is low when they have 1000+ good reviews.
4. Be careful with new wallets: If you want to try them out, make a background check. What team is behind it? How do they earn money? Why would they not simply take yours?
5. If things are unclear, talk to your friends about it with more technical skills.
6. In the best case, use wallets which have no need for third parties, where you and you alone are holders of the private keys.

Here is my overview thread about all crypto-related scams out there. (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=4729269.msg42729014#msg42729014)

Have you had experienced anything around fake wallets? Are there any points I should add or change? And most important, how can we protect new users from fake wallets if they do not inform themselves enough?

Use trusted wallet on Google application that people are using for a long time..  it mean the wallet are useful and legit. Ask your friend which wallet they are using and ask about their experience about it... do not experiment on new things specially when your money is on stake... you might loss everything...

I also heard about myetherwallet app on playtstore before. MEW don't even have an app, so its clearly fake its very important for everyone to be cautious when talking about wallets. Install phishing protections if your accessing your wallets website or just like what  you say check the url every time.

Wow thanks for this information, it really important for me at that time . ;D

Thanks for info buddy good job

The most popular Bitcoin electronic wallet today is Blockchain. It is highly appreciated and has the highest reliability. I only use it when dealing.

Safest thing to do is download a known wallet from a known website after confirming the url is 100% correct. Exodus is a good wallet.

We should go to a reputable site like Bitcointalk.com to get more information on reliable wallets that should not be bought by Bitcoin in the way that strangers introduce it could cause us to lose some distance. significant money. So invest in money wallets that you know well and many people
 thanks

I don't know about popularity, but most experienced Bitcoin users won't recommend it. I also know that there have been several incidents of Bitcoin loss because of negligence on the part of blockchain.info (now blockchain.com) itself. That doesn't exactly paint a pretty picture regarding its reliability. If you're a newbie and you're reading this, do yourself a favor and switch to Bitcoin Core or Electrum.

I seem to always see a blockchain.info wallet recommendation on threads like this pretty often. Makes me wonder if the posters are really just happy with the service or if there is some shilling going on.

Well, thank you for the wise advise, as it's better to be advertise twice than being scammed once.
Another good advise would also be to avoid at all costs web wallets, as you never know who is managing your private keys, and you don't know what they are going to do with it.

Official websites of every wallet should lead their potential customers and patrons to the App store/Play store via a hyperlink that will take them there directly. People should also read the reviews below every every app they want to download. It is likely that other people may have exposed the app if it's fake.

A common recommendation from beginners who mostly lacks the basic understanding about cryptocurrency. Hence, they do not know what they're losing in exchange for convenience, making it a happy experience for them until they encounter some problems.

I have never downloaded wallet apps in adroi or ios, because I never trust their security, anyone can upload apps to receive advertising money, if you can create Get a few apps or games, one day you can upload adroi or ios to thousands of applications to receive advertising money from downloaders.

I wrote a warning about different phishing scams a while back that may be useful.  How to avoid getting your exchange account HaCkEd or pHiShEd (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=4404175.0)

I thought that Apple especially used to be quite picky on which apps they allowed to be added in the App Store, I guess their system isn't 100% waterproof.

Also, how exactly does an App creator receive advertising money from someone that downloads their app? This all sounds quite confusing.


As others have stated, not only has it had huge security issues in the past ( One of the reasons it can't be found on Bitcoin.org), you're also missing out on a lot of features when using Blockchain.info in comparison to Electrum or Bitcoin core. 

Eg; you won't be able to use Replace-By-fee if your funds get "stuck" due to low fees, or CPFP. Exporting keys out of their wallet is also quite difficult.

I do not use iPhones, but this is the first time I have heard of the existence of scam apps in their store. Is this application still working? Have you been reported?

When talking about wallet it means retaining or losing the entire capital so it must be searched before downloading.
If you are committed to the wallets from this site[1], you will be safe. The problem is with shitcoins where you must trust unknown developers.



[1] https://bitcoin.org/en/choose-your-wallet

Thank you for the infos, crypto is good but it's also so easy to be scammed and no way to get back funds

I like to point out for Android users all the wallets in the official Google playstore are all legit and 100% malware free as before Google even makes it available for download they screen the app for potential violations or viruses that the developer will try to make available in the market. You should also remember that do not install .apk files found in the internet there is a reason why 3rd party apps are always left uncheck in your phone's settings as this apps are probably altered in a bad way, especially the wallets apps.

Just wondering, Apple should be knowing the owner of that fake app, If OP contact the Apple, I think they might able to help or atleast put some more security measures on there process how they add app on their store.

PS: Sorry , I have no idea what are checks by these companies for adding apps, I am just suspecting the worst case that everybody is free to publish an App on the platform.

As unethical people became more knowledgable about doing applications or modifying them, any wallets could be in danger even it is secured or legit.

Download count is good indicator also. If app got 1 mil downloads and is still on the market, it clearly shows it was verified before by google or users so it should be safe :).
This is important factor in choosing app to install, app with 5 k download or 15k or even 80 k is risky business.

Always check URL´s before downloading!

In app stores always check rating and number of downloads of the app´s (either Android or IOS).


I like ENJIN wallet, i´ve used it and never had any issues!
Worth a try