[2017-12-13] Apple Removes Fake MyEtherWallet Which Hit No. 3 on App Store

[M.A.V]

A rogue incarnation of popular altcoin wallet MyEtherWallet has finally disappeared from Apple’s App Store after gaining significant popularity.
Having risen to number three in the marketplace’s finance app category, Apple moderators at last removed the spurious MEW from sight.

Despite MEW itself not having an app and its desktop implementation being free to use, the fake charged $4.99 to download.

Developers sounded the alarm on social media Dec. 10, but it was not until more than a day later that Apple responded.

Prior to its removal, TechCrunch notes, around 3000 people had paid and downloaded the app, netting alleged creator Nam Le around $15,000 in revenue.

 https://cointelegraph.com/news/apple-removes-fake-myetherwallet-which-hit-no-3-on-app-store

[Taki]

It looks like Apple does not make any checking before to put an app on the store. To me this new sound like there are a lot of people who know crypto currencies and use it, if the MyEtherum wallet took the third place by the popularity on the App Store. Good news that they deleted this app in the final

[Carlton Banks]

Good news that they deleted this app in the final

No it isn't.


This approach:

• Encourages everyone to be lazy and/or ignorant
• Gives Apple the power to censor as well as moderate
• Further entrenches the controlled AppStore^TM culture

People should take responsibility for themselves, or Apple could change their authority-based responsibility into politicism. If Apple started moderating Apps on the basis of "societal norms", Bitcoin might end up censored from Apple devices (again, it happened in the early days due to legal concerns).

Apple is anti-freedom, Bitcoin is pro-freedom. This can't end well.

[Iranus]

Good news that they deleted this app in the final

This approach:

Encourages everyone to be lazy and/or ignorant

Apple is a private company.  They have the power to decide what they allow on their privately owned system, and that is not a restriction of freedom in the slightest - Apple are simply using their freedom in order to remove scams from their platform and people freely choose to use Apple.

You can't just blame the user all the time.  If scams are rampant, a large number of people are going to get scammed, and it makes sense for centralised platforms distributing apps to prevent too many users from downloading these scams.
MyEtherWallet have had loads of different scams over recent months.  The scammers are all over Slack as well.  Hopefully, users will become more careful.

[Carlton Banks]

No, you're arguing that it's a good idea to trust Apple's ability to protect people from scams. This incident literally proves that Apple either don't have the resources or the competency to protect their users, this story literally proves that Apple's AppStore model doesn't work.

I didn't say that Apple shouldn't be allowed to do any model they like; they should. What's wrong with me saying "Apple's model gives people a false sense of security, and encourages them to be lazy"?

[Harlot]

Good thing that Apple and its app store responded to something like this. A free of charge desktop wallet doesn't make sense to have a paid version. Much more it is developed not officially by MyEtherWallet itself making it unsafe to use as it is vulnerable to your accounts being hacked by the developers of the fake app. Sadly many people got carried away with this kinds of apps this day because we are now living in a more digital world making stealing more accessible without even robbing a store or a bank. Users need to be careful about these kinds of apps.

[Iranus]

No, you're arguing that it's a good idea to trust Apple's ability to protect people from scams.

No, I'm saying that it should be treated as a good thing when Apple succeeds in removing scams from their platform - not necessarily that everyone should trust Apple's ability to do so. 

What's wrong with me saying "Apple's model gives people a false sense of security, and encourages them to be lazy"?

It's a very simplistic way of looking at humans.  I'm all for raising awareness of scams, but the best way to do this is not by allowing scammers to leave their apps on the store, which appears to be what you suggested:

Good news that they deleted this app in the final

No it isn't.

If a scam is openly available, people are very likely to get caught up in it.  The more that are removed, the better.

[Carlton Banks]

If a scam is openly available, people are very likely to get caught up in it.  The more that are removed, the better.

No.

If that really worked, we may as well extend that same logic to the whole internet.

And people would do the same thing: get too confident because they falsely believe the Scam Police are protecting them from everyone. Like I said: this proves the idea doesn't work, because people still got scammed. And (also) like I said: Apple can abuse their Scam Police powers.

Why would you want to promote such an astoundingly bad system?

[jhenfelipe]

It's surprising that around 3000 people downloaded and paid. I know it would be easier to access MEW if it has an app, but knowing that it provides a free web service, people should have wondered why they need to pay in the first place. I think they have trusted apple that much that they didn't confirm if that wallet is legit. Still, good thing that it was already removed before more people pay for it.

[J. Cooper]

It's surprising that around 3000 people downloaded and paid. I know it would be easier to access MEW if it has an app, but knowing that it provides a free web service, people should have wondered why they need to pay in the first place. I think they have trusted apple that much that they didn't confirm if that wallet is legit. Still, good thing that it was already removed before more people pay for it.

You would be very surprised how some people, even in 2017, still fall for cheap 5-click get rich schemes or bitcoin multipliers. You really have to educate yourself and be as sceptical as possible before moving funds into this environment. The fact that cryptocurrencies are still very new and that only now regular people are pouring in makes the environment very scammable. This scam model wasn't the first and certainly won't be the last.

[Proton2233]

It's surprising that around 3000 people downloaded and paid. I know it would be easier to access MEW if it has an app, but knowing that it provides a free web service, people should have wondered why they need to pay in the first place. I think they have trusted apple that much that they didn't confirm if that wallet is legit. Still, good thing that it was already removed before more people pay for it.

How this application appeared on Apstar? If they control the platform that should be responsible for what made the Scam. They should compensate those who managed to install this app. If the app's creators are not crooks, why was it removed? I think this story has many questions that have no answers.