Apple kept fake bitcoin wallet on App Store after $875,000 theft report, lawsuit alleges
Three individuals have filed a lawsuit against Apple, alleging that the company allowed a fraudulent app impersonating the legitimate Sparrow Wallet to remain on the App Store despite multiple reports of theft. The plaintiffs claim they lost a combined $1.84 million in bitcoin after entering their seed phrases into the malicious application, which they believed was vetted by Apple's security processes.
Why it matters
This case challenges the legal liability of major app marketplaces regarding the safety of their curated ecosystems and highlights the ongoing risks of sophisticated phishing scams targeting cryptocurrency users.
In the suit, filed July 24 and spotted by MacRumors, three people say they collectively had about $1.84 million stolen after downloading an app impersonating Sparrow Wallet and entering their bitcoin BTC $ 63,384.15 seed phrases. Seed phrases allow anyone possessing them to control and transfer assets from the associated wallets.
In a suit filed at the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, the plaintiffs argue Apple’s marketing led them to believe applications in its tightly controlled marketplace were vetted and safe. They brought eight claims covering consumer-protection laws, fraudulent and negligent misrepresentation and failure to warn.
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