User says ~$600K of bitcoin was stolen after using a fake app for cryptocurrency hardware wallet Trezor downloaded from the App Store; app was rated five stars
Recent scams show there are holes in Apple's safety net — Phillipe Christodoulou wanted to check his bitcoin balance last month …
Washington PostReed Albergotti
Context & Ripple Effects
Christodoulou’s reported loss put a concrete failure mode behind concerns about App Store screening: a highly rated app impersonating a hardware-wallet brand. Related coverage soon found that nearly 2% of the top-grossing App Store apps were scams, indicating the issue extended beyond one crypto listing.
Christodoulou says he lost roughly $600,000 in bitcoin after using the fake Trezor app, while Trezor faces an immediate trust problem despite the app not being its product.
Apple’s App Store review and ratings signals are directly called into question because the impersonating app was available there with a five-star rating.
Second-order effects
Crypto-wallet users must treat App Store presence and user ratings as insufficient proof of authenticity, raising the importance of verifying the publisher and wallet connection path.
Apple faces pressure to detect brand impersonation more effectively; the subsequent analysis of scams among top-grossing App Store apps suggests enforcement gaps can affect paid-app discovery as well as crypto users.
Third-order effects
Repeated wallet and credential-app clones point to a durable marketplace-security problem: platform approval, search placement, and ratings can be repurposed as trust signals by impersonators.
Apple’s later report of blocking billions in fraudulent transactions and rejecting risky submissions shows the company is scaling enforcement, but recurring clone incidents suggest the contest is shifting toward faster detection of deceptive identities rather than simply blocking obviously malicious apps.
The trend: App marketplaces are becoming a central phishing surface, where trusted distribution and familiar brands are exploited to target high-value accounts and digital assets.
This is a f*cking nightmare. Scammed by a fake Trezor app in the “curated and safe” Apple App Store. Be careful out there. https://www.washingtonpost.com/ ...
Next, the description begins with an awesome typo: “Here's what you can do with out app” In the reviews, we see lots of duplicates and more typos: https://twitter.com/...
These words hurt so much to read: “... life savings in bitcoin.” Our schooling systems need to do a better job teaching people how to handle money. https://twitter.com/...
App Store ratings are HARMFUL, not “trustworthy”. Stellar-rated scam steals $600k life savings in an instant. “Apple doesn't deserve to get away with this.” https://www.washingtonpost.com/ ...
Bottom line: Apple might have restrictions on mobile software distribution and it might collect big commissions. But when it comes to safety, the App Store is a lot more like the open internet than the company likes to admit. The assertion that control = safety is simply false.
remember my friend who lost his life savings due to a phishing app pretending to be a trezor app in @apple's app store? we are now looking for an attorney to take his case and go after apple. please reach out if you know someone that can help. https://www.washingtonpost.com/ ...
“the Trezor app had 155 reviews on the App Store for a rating of close to 5 stars... The ratings that helped make the app seem legitimate must have been fake” Yup. systematically inflated across the board, overwhelming actual user reviews. See: https://www.ft.com/... https://twit…
It's interesting to see that the web may be safer here as you have a URL and a certificate to verify. It can be tricked, of course also, but on App Store, everything seems more obscure. You can only see a developer's fancy name for security and ownership. https://twitter.com/...
Important thread. The notion that Apple pre-screens every bit of every app on the App Store is objectively false. The company's system *relies* on user reports/complaints and media attention for enforcement. https://twitter.com/...
This App Store scam is just too funny. First, the app has a 5.0 average rating - the stuff of legends among honest developers: https://apps.apple.com/...
Apple frequently pushes myths about user privacy and security as a shield against its anti-competitive App Store practices. The truth is, Apple's security ‘standards’ are inconsistently applied across apps and only enforced when it benefits Apple. https://www.washingtonpost.com/ …
This is probably the biggest risk to your #Bitcoin DO NOT ENTER YOUR SEED PHRASE TO AN ONLINE COMPUTER. NO MATTER HOW NICELY YOUR WALLET SOFTWARE ASKS YOU FOR IT https://twitter.com/...
Apple says it must block all competing stores on iOS because it alone can protect users. This is a lie. The App Store is full of scams, and competition - including competing on app quality - is desperately needed. https://twitter.com/...
Apple's been criticized by congress and developers for its strict control of the App Store and its defense has revolved around one fundamental truth that most people believe: The App Store is safe because Apple tightly controls it. (It's 2021 and this is my first thread ever)