Apple Sued After Fake iPhone Wallet App Drained $1.8M in Bitcoin

[henmark]

The only thing that can make the case for Apple weak is the fact that they claim their store is free of such stuff, no one can add fake apps and stuff in their store and it is completely secure; otherwise, it's a clear mistake from those who got robbed out of their funds, because if you look at the official website of Sparrow wallet, they don't even have any mobile apps that users can use, but these users still went ahead and downloaded a fake app on their phones, and then inserted their details without even confirming if the fake is real or fake. I mean, how dumb can someone be when playing around with so much money? If you have been using their desktop wallet, and suddenly decided to switch to mobile, you should at least look at their official website for a link or something.

I'm not sure about others, but I remember reading the story of one person who downloaded the app from App store and added his seed phrase and password without even verifying whether the wallet is official or not, and then he was giving an interview about it and saying it was his life-savings and he now is left with nothing. If you can't manage your funds properly, you will surely be deprived of them because scammers and attackers won't leave an opportunity if you give them one.

[JiiBs]

This is an avoidable mistake, but I think Apple and Google need to take the responsibility of their users not to download fake apps on their stores. There are many bitcoin users that do not even know what verifying of wallet signature is before using a wallet. But if they do not know that, they should know that they should make investigation before making use of a wallet. If Sparrow is now on App store, it would be seen online through search and also seen on their office website.

It’s an avoidable mistake for those who know how, are cautious and curious about these things. There are a lot of forks out there that haven’t got a clue on how to verify or the need to verify these wallets before download. These are the ones that depend on Playstore and AppStore to have down this for them, given the huge company name and what could be gotten out of them. They directly occupy a position of trust for most of their users and this trust is being bridged due to the poor verification or promptness to take action when these apps are being reported.

I am of the note that we are our first line of security but, these companies need to do better, at least when these apps are reported through the proper channels and with evidence.

[Franklyn-wood]

This is an avoidable mistake, but I think Apple and Google need to take the responsibility of their users not to download fake apps on their stores. There are many bitcoin users that do not even know what verifying of wallet signature is before using a wallet. But if they do not know that, they should know that they should make investigation before making use of a wallet. If Sparrow is now on App store, it would be seen online through search and also seen on their office website.

Sparrow bitcoin wallet official website: https://sparrowwallet.com/
https://sparrowwallet.com/download/

I don't know much about the subject, but I think  Apple has more responsibility of what goes inside their store than google.

Apple charges a fee for the money developers make  in the app listed. So they have some responsibility of what goes in there.

I am always impressed by the amount of people that put millions of dollars in a mobile wallet 

So many people believes that apple is more secured and can't fail, but for getting that it is a brand that has other partner brands attached to it who sells under that in other to get more sells because of the speculation and the good name apple has already.
That money is much to over look consider the hiy profile of apple as a big name in the worl. Some other law suites are file against apple some other things, dont know how true it is.

[Ashawowo(OS)]

Apple charges a fee for the money developers make  in the app listed. So they have some responsibility of what goes in there.

If this is the case, then the lawsuit is in order. They've a duty to screen what exists in their stores since they're in partnership with the developers.

I am always impressed by the amount of people that put millions of dollars in a mobile wallet  

Some people are so uninformed that they only know about hot wallets, I've seen people like that and when I recommend a hardware wallet at least, they're surprised about it's existence. Ignorance is a major factor that keeps people vulnerable, the scammer always has his way easily with them.

[joniboini]

I've seen people like that and when I recommend a hardware wallet at least, they're surprised about it's existence. Ignorance is a major factor that keeps people vulnerable, the scammer always has his way easily with them.

I feel like they belong to different group of people. I find it hard to believe someone who use an Apple device to not know a single thing about hardware wallet, or other alternatives in general. Especially when they store millions of dollars in there. That doesn't mean they'll always have a good awareness though. In my case I see people trusting exchange as a main or secondary "wallet" more of then than iPhone users not knowing what Trezor or Electrum is.

[Darker45]

I've seen people like that and when I recommend a hardware wallet at least, they're surprised about it's existence. Ignorance is a major factor that keeps people vulnerable, the scammer always has his way easily with them.

I feel like they belong to different group of people. I find it hard to believe someone who use an Apple device to not know a single thing about hardware wallet, or other alternatives in general. Especially when they store millions of dollars in there. That doesn't mean they'll always have a good awareness though. In my case I see people trusting exchange as a main or secondary "wallet" more of then than iPhone users not knowing what Trezor or Electrum is.

I don't quite agree with the logic. Using an Apple device doesn't necessarily equate to being techy or being well-informed about proper Bitcoin safekeeping. Apple devices are mainstream, user-friendly, and accessible to everybody. It's not something that only highly technical Bitcoin supporters can make use of. It's just a phone, a globally popular brand at that. So, it won't be surprising if an Apple user hasn't heard of Trezor.

What surprised me is that despite having hundreds of thousands of dollars in Bitcoin, they chose a hot wallet as their choice of storage. Worse, they were extremely negligent and lazy in handling it.

[FinneysTrueVision]

I can’t imagine what would make someone believe that storing hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of Bitcoin in a mobile phone wallet was a good idea. Sparrow is a reputable name that people trust, but at least they should have checked on their website to see if they actually have a mobile application.

User error aside, Apple has been extremely negligent in allowing fake crypto wallet apps in their store. There has also been stories about fake Electrum wallets that got people drained of their funds. Currently, I can find a fake Wasabi Wallet app in the Apple App Store and also something called Safe3, that is probably trying to trick users into believing they are related to Trezor. One of that wallet’s reviews is from a user who claims their funds were stolen.

[Dex_master25]

I can’t imagine what would make someone believe that storing hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of Bitcoin in a mobile phone wallet was a good idea. Sparrow is a reputable name that people trust, but at least they should have checked on their website to see if they actually have a mobile application.

User error aside, Apple has been extremely negligent in allowing fake crypto wallet apps in their store. There has also been stories about fake Electrum wallets that got people drained of their funds. Currently, I can find a fake Wasabi Wallet app in the Apple App Store and also something called Safe3, that is probably trying to trick users into believing they are related to Trezor. One of that wallet’s reviews is from a user who claims their funds were stolen.

All this fake wallets and apps that could even be downloaded from Apple store or play store makes me doubt the efficacy of using a hardware wallet that is downloaded and installed on a device. Perhaps they paid some amount of money to market these fake sites on the apple or play store and these companies don't do due diligence test to know the originality of the source before allowing users download it.
If there's a way for Bitcoin users to use cold wallets hardware that's airgapped, I think it would be a better option than the wallets that can be downloaded from any store because hackers are also developers than build sites to decieve the unsuspecting and those who aren't as much tech savvy and have such huge holdings in one place always fall victims no matter how careful they are.
I would advice anyone including myself to never store my Bitcoin investment and holdings in one wallet as a way to not lose all I have accumulated overtime due to such kind of hacks and fake wallet apps.

[Ashawowo(OS)]

~

I feel like they belong to different group of people. I find it hard to believe someone who use an Apple device to not know a single thing about hardware wallet, or other alternatives in general. Especially when they store millions of dollars in there. That doesn't mean they'll always have a good awareness though. In my case I see people trusting exchange as a main or secondary "wallet" more of then than iPhone users not knowing what Trezor or Electrum is.

I don't quite agree with the logic. Using an Apple device doesn't necessarily equate to being techy or being well-informed about proper Bitcoin safekeeping. Apple devices are mainstream, user-friendly, and accessible to everybody. It's not something that only highly technical Bitcoin supporters can make use of. It's just a phone, a globally popular brand at that. So, it won't be surprising if an Apple user hasn't heard of Trezor.

He has forgotten that people are actually gifted Iphones and most people who use the products go for it basically because of its good cameras and use it basically for content creating and to measure up with their peers. Being tech savvy is an intentional thing and not dependent on the product you use. Knowing the correct bitcoin wallet for accurate preservation of your coins doesn't come-by easily and is not an info you get by random social media or internet exposure, you only get such from legitimate discussion forums like this. All over the media, Ledger and trust wallet are portrayed as a good option. I only came to know about Trezor, Electrum, Blue wallet and other open-source, noncustodial alternatives as well as offline storing of seed phrases when I joined this forum.
Just to mention, I've used apple devices for almost 4 years before joining the forum

[Davidvictorson]

I do not know if we have discussed about this before, but I could remember similar incident which is not about lawsuit but about how some iPhone users downloaded fake Sparrow on App store and this could be part of the people that were affected at the time. Also Apple generally has been susceptible to vulnerabilities which affect users that do not avoid malware. But this is not about avoiding malware, it about downloading fake wallet on the App store.

Three bitcoin holders have sued Apple in California federal court, saying a counterfeit Sparrow Wallet app took a combined $1.8 million. One plaintiff reported the app to Apple; another downloaded it nine days later and lost $840,000, the complaint says.

https://decrypt.co/374628/apple-sued-after-fake-iphone-wallet-app-drained-1-8m-in-bitcoin

This is an avoidable mistake, but I think Apple and Google need to take the responsibility of their users not to download fake apps on their stores. There are many bitcoin users that do not even know what verifying of wallet signature is before using a wallet. But if they do not know that, they should know that they should make investigation before making use of a wallet. If Sparrow is now on App store, it would be seen online through search and also seen on their office website.

Sparrow bitcoin wallet official website: https://sparrowwallet.com/
https://sparrowwallet.com/download/

At this time it seems that the issues of fake wallet apps on the app stores of both organizations is out of their control. They may hardly find a concrete solution to this since it seems that they are not willing to do their due diligence before approving an app to be on their store. What they should do instead should be to stop all wallets apps from their store. Rather people who want to download can go online and do that. By doing so they avoid these unfortunate and unnecessary lawsuits against them which in my estimation they are likely to lose.

[Dareo]

Although I haven't used an iOS device yet, I've always heard that the App Store is much safer than Google Play. Apple's App Review process is also known to be quite strict, so an app has to go through various types of automated and manual verification before being released, So if a fake wallet app easily finds a place there too, then it's really embarrassing for Apple. Honestly here I would say that there's no alternative to being careful.

[Kalchef]

I hope someone can do the same to Google Playstore too, they have a lot of scam apps and fake apps on that app store, always make sure that the app you want to download directs you to the correct app on Google app store or else you will end up with a fake app, and if money is involved you will be drained. App stores can't do the job right, don't even bother trusting them, always use official links of the apps you want and let them direct you..

[Dreadboost]

Apple had my trust in the past, but after hearing of this news, I don't trust all apps from Apple. Normally, the Android Play Store used to store apps with vulnerabilities, as the developers take every penny from any company to launch an app without scrutinizing it. All of a sudden, Apple is doing the same thing. To me, this looks like a clear change in Apple's developers because this isn't the first time someone has called out Apple regarding downloading fake apps this year.

Whether users agree with the detailed suspicion on Apple developers, the possibility of phishing apps on their store suggests technical intelligence has reduced.

[Emjay24]

This is an avoidable mistake, but I think Apple and Google need to take the responsibility of their users not to download fake apps on their stores. There are many bitcoin users that do not even know what verifying of wallet signature is before using a wallet. But if they do not know that, they should know that they should make investigation before making use of a wallet. If Sparrow is now on App store, it would be seen online through search and also seen on their office website.

It’s an avoidable mistake for those who know how, are cautious and curious about these things. There are a lot of forks out there that haven’t got a clue on how to verify or the need to verify these wallets before download. These are the ones that depend on Playstore and AppStore to have down this for them, given the huge company name and what could be gotten out of them. They directly occupy a position of trust for most of their users and this trust is being bridged due to the poor verification or promptness to take action when these apps are being reported.

It saddens me that people reads a lot about these cheap random software download scams and falls readily to the next one.
Is it because they are ignorant or less tech savvy? or because they've refused to learn?

These fake apps can be avoided if people download these software from the official sites, at least even though you are redirected to the store from the official site, you are getting the correct app on the stores.

Knowing the official site is very easy, you can just ask google and the search results tells you where to go, even AI mode of the search result will point you to the right site to go and you continue your software download from there.

[KingsDen]

Apple had my trust in the past, but after hearing of this news, I don't trust all apps from Apple. Normally, the Android Play Store used to store apps with vulnerabilities, as the developers take every penny from any company to launch an app without scrutinizing it. All of a sudden, Apple is doing the same thing. To me, this looks like a clear change in Apple's developers because this isn't the first time someone has called out Apple regarding downloading fake apps this year.

Whether users agree with the detailed suspicion on Apple developers, the possibility of phishing apps on their store suggests technical intelligence has reduced.

This is directly opposite my believe in the iOS. I have used both iOS and android, I trust apple for other kinds of security and privacy and not with crypto wallets. I don't know why, but I have never seen apple phones as an option for crypto transactions. The short period I used iPhone, I used it for camera and prestige and no wonder it didn't take long until I lost it.

I heard a rumour of someone who's been investigated by FBI, and ample didn't allow unauthorized access to his ample, which is something android cannot do. This should be the point I began to trust them for privacy but not for crypto transactions. It's not that it has failed me before, but I didn't just try at all.

[9ja Amaka]

Apple had my trust in the past, but after hearing of this news, I don't trust all apps from Apple. Normally, the Android Play Store used to store apps with vulnerabilities, as the developers take every penny from any company to launch an app without scrutinizing it. All of a sudden, Apple is doing the same thing. To me, this looks like a clear change in Apple's developers because this isn't the first time someone has called out Apple regarding downloading fake apps this year.

Whether users agree with the detailed suspicion on Apple developers, the possibility of phishing apps on their store suggests technical intelligence has reduced.

iPhone or Android devices are mere devices used for several purposes, including storing a crypto wallet. The owner of a device is in a position to protect their device, not the device. Ask around for crypto users who have knowledge of how to store a wallet properly on whatever device you are using.

I have used an Android device for 4 years in my early crypto days with no challenges caused by the device. I have an iPhone right now, and I'm yet to find any issues in storing my wallet properly.