[Warning] 10 fake wallets on Google Play - please report them

[Rikafip]

As we all know, Google Play is full of fake wallets so I decided to check the most popular ones to see how many of those can I find. Can't say I'm surprised to see so many fake wallets currently available and I honestly don't understand why Google won't start manually checking each and every wallet that appears on their platform, especially if it's made by the unknown developer that doesn't have any reputation.

Just a reminder to always download the wallets directly from developers website as Google simply can't be trusted in that regard and please take  few minutes of your time to report fake wallets below. The more of us report them, better the chances they get removed.


Trust wallets

Real Trust wallet
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.wallet.crypto.trustapp

Fake Trust wallets

Code:

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.me.trustappmobiler

Code:

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=blockwallet20.bitcoin.wallet.btc

Exodus wallets

Real Exodus wallet
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=exodusmovement.exodus

Fake Exodus wallet

Code:

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.valader.pacderte

Code:

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=io.exowallt.app

Mew wallets

Real mew wallet
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.myetherwallet.mewwallet

Fake mew wallets

Code:

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.travolta.copoloka

Code:

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=neuwalleteltr.elthrum

Mycelium wallets

Real Mycelium wallet
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.mycelium.wallet

Fake Mycelium wallet

Code:

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=io.gonative.android.kwmlka

BRD wallet
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.breadwallet

Fake BRD wallets

Code:

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.start.uptool.brd

Code:

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.bdrch.rsisxqsqd0

Code:

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.bccdzqh.rsidxwwzx4

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[Charles-Tim]

People should be careful while making use of Google playstore for app download, not even only google but all other app sites. It is even advisable to never use app stores for app download because fake apps that resemble or mimic the app to download can be on the app store and be the one to be downloaded mistakenly. This is not surprising anymore, but it is still worth mentioning this here immediately such are detected so it can be reported by many people in order for the app to be taken down. Anyone making use of app store like google playstore can make the mistake of downloading fake apps.

Playstores should not be use for app download, visiting the app download official site is necessary because fake ones can mistakenly be downloaded from playstores, google playstore most especially.

[Rikafip]

Playstores should not be use for app download, visiting the app download official site is necessary because fake ones can mistakenly be downloaded from playstores, google playstore most especially.

More experienced users are perfectly aware of that, but those are not scammers target audience. They aim at beginners&average uses who are using Google Store for years and in huge majority of cases they won't change that habit when downloading the crypto wallet app for the first time. In their head Google Store is perfectly safe since they probably didn't  have any issues before while getting some irrelevant apps so why change the practice now?

Another issue is common misconception that Google is responsible for money lost due fake apps and that you can sue them if that happens ( I recently came across several users on one other forum who thought that's the case) while in reality they covered that in TOS stating that "Google is not responsible for and does not endorse any Content made available through Google Play that originates from a source other than Google."

[mersal]

A simple and easy tip to find fake and real wallets on play store is "Look at the number of downloads and reviews".

Less number of downloads cannot be considered as complete fake app but 99% of the time it will be a one so this can be easy for screening even by a real complete newbie.

[sheenshane]

Thanks for the input, it really helps those newbies here to avoid downloading any wallet that comes from Google Play, they should go to the official website and verify before downloading it.

I have a small suggestion, maybe it is good if you will create a thread regarding this scam accusation.  I saw that you have existent work there or probably if you will add this into your work, (List of scams exposed by Rikafip. 130+ and counting!), or in @witcher_sense work, that exposed all scam-related projects or it might good if you will create a separate thread for the fake wallet on Google Play. (just a suggestion)

Anyway, I also reported these fake wallets, we do hope that Google will take immediate action to take down these fake wallets.  More reports, much better.

[DdmrDdmr]

Being Google clearly slower than desired to act in these cases, often requiring the public to perform multiple reports before they take a look into the matter, I wonder if wallet developers shouldn’t take it upon themselves to dedicate 5 minutes per day (perhaps a couple of times per day) to detect and report wallets that are trying to scam-clone their wallets.

Ideally, the store could device a mechanism to fast track the revision of these petitions when made by older publisher accounts, against accounts that have published recent content.

[Furious 7]

These tips are very helpful where we can know that doing a search on Google Playstore directly is not guaranteed and it can lead to fake wallets which is what we are worried about because surely some people will still do direct searches instead of visiting the site and downloading it directly.

But we have to look at some reviews and also research, sometimes with fake wallets, there is always a slight difference even though the appearance is the same, but we are careful in this that we don't be careless and just install because there have been many victims with losing money there.

[Rikafip]

A simple and easy tip to find fake and real wallets on play store is "Look at the number of downloads and reviews".

Less number of downloads cannot be considered as complete fake app but 99% of the time it will be a one so this can be easy for screening even by a real complete newbie.

True, but every once in a while someone will make that mistake, download the wrong and loose the money. The fact that we see so many fake apps is indication that this tactic works and people falling for it.

Being Google clearly slower than desired to act in these cases, often requiring the public to perform multiple reports before they take a look into the matter, I wonder if wallet developers shouldn’t take it upon themselves to dedicate 5 minutes per day (perhaps a couple of times per day) to detect and report wallets that are trying to scam-clone their wallets.

I reported fake wallets directly to developers several times and I didn't notice those reported apps disappearing any faster. What certainly  didn't help is their reluctance to warn their users through social media channels that there is a fake app. I am sure that would help remove those apps faster than it is now as it usually take several weeks before Google reacts.

Ideally, the store could device a mechanism to fast track the revision of these petitions when made by older publisher accounts, against accounts that have published recent content.

+1
Google is allegedly manually checking certain amount of apps so what I think they should so is manually check every app submitted by new account without prior history. That way number of those fake app would be reduced greatly. It's not like they can't afford the manpower to do that, but I guess they don't care much as they covered their ass with TOS.

[Raflesia]

A simple and easy tip to find fake and real wallets on play store is "Look at the number of downloads and reviews".

Less number of downloads cannot be considered as complete fake app but 99% of the time it will be a one so this can be easy for screening even by a real complete newbie.

True, but every once in a while someone will make that mistake, download the wrong and loose the money. The fact that we see so many fake apps is indication that this tactic works and people falling for it.

Often times I will also make mistakes such as searching the Playstore "Electrum" so many wallets are the same but there are fake applications that are duplicated, even if they are almost similar, that can make mistakes anytime.

But I now prefer what you say mersal better visit the site to redirect to the right application so that it ensures that we will not get caught up in these fake app scam tactics.

Like there will be more and more findings of fake application wallets, especially when prices are high, scamers always create gaps to break through.

[notblox1]

Reporting fake apps is good but there is a big problem with them and we can not identify them all because scammers release them all the time  with new names.
Safest way to know if app is real or fake is with double checking on official website and maybe with PGP signatures verification.

[pakhitheboss]

Thanks for the update.

This is a big list of fake wallets on Google Play store. As a community we are trying our level best to get these wallets reported to Google. But, why are we not reporting these fake wallets to the real wallet developers? I mean we also need to inform the Exodus, Mycelium and MEW wallet team that scammers are using their brand name to scam newbies. They also have a big community they can also help us in reporting these fake wallets to Google.

[Kong Hey Pakboy]

I don't understand why Google was letting this kind of fake wallet application in its Play Store if it will harm its users. It is the reason why some people hate using Android phones because they are vulnerable to unsafe applications that could get hacked or steal their funds.

So I thank you, mate, for informing us about this because not all of us can easily recognize the difference between a fake crypto wallet to a legitimate crypto wallet.         

[libert19]

I don't understand why Google was letting this kind of fake wallet application in its Play Store if it will harm its users. It is the reason why some people hate using Android phones because they are vulnerable to unsafe applications that could get hacked or steal their funds.      

It also happens on iOS which apparently have stringent policies on which apps gets to app store and which not.

[Taskford]

Good catch! This is the reason why I didn't go directly on Playstore to search some wallet available and always go to the respectful support to ask if the wallet I grab is legit or not since being safety is the most important thing to me and I encourage others to do that since that is the most safest act to do and it's for long term protection.

[Rikafip]

It also happens on iOS which apparently have stringent policies on which apps gets to app store and which not.

I don't know whether its true or not but I read somewhere that Apple is manually checking each and every new app that is submitted while Google checks only certain percentage so its no wonder that Google Play is full of fake wallets.

I am not an iOS user so out of curiosity I took my wife's iPad to see how many fake wallets can I found on Apple store. I checked Blockhain, BRD, Atomic, Jaxx, Mycelium, mew, Exodus, Coinomi and found zero fake wallets using their name. The only suspicious thing I found is one Trust wallet that could be fake. Big difference compared to Google Play where there are at least 12 (@Dave1 reported yesterday two more fake Jaxx) fake wallets at the moment. When you combine Google's less thorough screening process and more users, you get that discrepancy between Android and iOS platforms.

It's time for Google to step up the game, it's not like they can't afford more manpower to tackle that issue.

[libert19]

It also happens on iOS which apparently have stringent policies on which apps gets to app store and which not.

I don't know whether its true or not...

You can find that news with Google search: https://www.macrumors.com/2017/12/11/fake-myetherwallet-app-app-stores/

[Rikafip]

You can find that news with Google search: https://www.macrumors.com/2017/12/11/fake-myetherwallet-app-app-stores/

I don't know whether you noticed but that news is from 2017 and since then Apple obviously improved in that regard and is without the doubt more demanding than Google when it comes to apps that show up on their platforms and scammers are obviously exploiting Google's negligence. There are currently at least 13 fake wallets available on Google Play, while I could find maybe (as I am not sure) one on iOS. You must admit that difference is quite big. I am not Apple/iOS fan at all, but it is fair to say that they take their users safety more serious than Google.

In order to fight those scammers and their fake wallets more efficiently I made a thread which will be regularly updated with all newly found fake wallets and their current status (whether they are removed or not) so if you see that I missed some, please let me know and make sure to report those already mentioned on the list.
Fake wallets on Google Play

[Inagame]

@Rikafip maybe you can add and report one more fake Trezor wallet app from google store.
They even have 4.89 score and 457 total installs and reviews:
https://archive.is/rh0Gd

Code:

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.trz.app

[Rikafip]

@Rikafip maybe you can add and report one more fake Trezor wallet app from google store.
They even have 4.89 score and 457 total installs and reviews:
https://archive.is/rh0Gd

Thanks for reporting it here, Fake Trezor app has been added to List of fake wallets on Google Play.

From what I know, Trezor doesn't even have their own app on Google Play so hopefully not many people will get scammed by this, but so far this fake app has more than 1,000 downloads and almost 500 fakes reviews in less than 10 days since it was made available.

[Yaunfitda]

@Rikafip, I would also like to report a fake MEW on Google Play.

The wrong spelling was the flag that this is fake.

Code:

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.speidkslz.elpatrosmpablosxw

Archive: https://archive.is/6H7lh

[jerry0]

Do these fake wallets also have a ton of reviews though to make it legit?  Before i download any app to my iphone... i check to see how much reviews it has etc.

[libert19]

Do these fake wallets also have a ton of reviews though to make it legit?  Before i download any app to my iphone... i check to see how much reviews it has etc.

Not tons, you can expect these fake wallets to have 10-30 fake reviews, which is usually done from their own scammer teammates or purchased from somewhere. Whatever the case may be, it's pretty easy to identify the genuineness of the reviews.

[Rikafip]

New fake app for Trezor hardware wallet namely Mobile Manager Wallet  has appeared on Google Play.  Comments from users should prevent you from installing it on your Android device but anyway be aware  of it here in forum.  

It's been reported already by @Inagame few days ago and added to the List of fake wallets on Google Play. There are currently 20 of them available on Google's platform. Beside big amount of fake wallets, what is even more worrysome is how slow Google is when it comes to removing them. Some of them like fake Jaxx are there for more than two months and have 10,000+ downloads.

One thing that would probably help is if companies report those who copy their wallets, and share it on their social media, like Trezor just did via Twitter, which is commendable. For some reason majority of others are reluctant to do that and warn their users.

Do these fake wallets also have a ton of reviews though to make it legit?  Before i download any app to my iphone... i check to see how much reviews it has etc.

Majority of those have few dozens of fake reviews, but every once in a while more "ambitious" fake wallet appears with hundreds of fake reviews and thousands of downloads. One more reason not to trust any reviews as they can be easily bought for a few dollars.

[Savagecodes]

Thank you for sharing this article with us. I am already getting started with all the bitcoin and altcoin stuff and need trusted wallets as mentioned by you.

However, after reading many helpful articles I have concluded to use mycelium for the sake of bitcoin while MEW for the purpose of using altcoins and Ethereum specially.

Because it's nerve recking when I think about putting my hard earned money into crypto, a completely virtual currency! So will start with the mycelium only and my CC to buy it.

[Rabi3]

Do these fake wallets also have a ton of reviews though to make it legit?  Before i download any app to my iphone... i check to see how much reviews it has etc.

they can use fake reviews which makes it harder to tell if it's legit or not, just go to official websites and follow the link of the apps you want from there, also, don't trust new ones right away, do some research first.

[Yaunfitda]

This one seems fake as well, a Binance app, and obviously using Binance logo. It might steal users credentials.

Code:

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.jex.trade

Official app is:

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.binance.dev
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.binance.us

[Rikafip]

This one seems fake as well, a Binance app, and obviously using Binance logo. It might steal users credentials.

Code:

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.jex.trade

I've seen this app before and at first I also thought that it is fake but then I saw that it is available on Play Store since April 2019, which was kinda strange to be available for so long and on top of that it had huge amount of downloads for a fake app (50,000+, but that can be faked too as well) so I decided to dig a little bit deeper. It turns out that Binance JEX  is indeed legit app &trading platform and owned by Binance. They acquired JEX back in September 2019

Binance is pleased to announce the acquisition of JEX, a crypto-asset trading platform offering spot and derivatives trading services. JEX will join the Binance ecosystem as Binance JEX and focus on further building the cryptoasset derivatives market, providing Binance users with professional services including futures contracts, options and other derivative products.

Through this acquisition, Binance will manage the JEX team and the JEX tokens run by its Foundation, introducing more utility to the JEX token. In a longer term, JEX tokens will be gradually distributed to all users via marketing activities and community incentives; subsequently, the tokens will be gradually retrieved and burned in various forms including trading commission deductions and so on.

If you go to https://www.jex.com and check the apps available, it leads directly to the same app that you mentioned, Binance JEX.