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Users lose $9.5M to fake Ledger wallet app on the Apple App Store
- 2OEH8eoCRo0 6mo agoApple should be liable for this. If Walmart sells a dangerous product, even unknowingly, they can be liable. Why are digital stores different?
- pwillia7 6mo agoWalmart wasn't created late enough in the 2nd gilded age to effectively lobby the government against having any rules
- alasano 6mo agoIf apple were liable for this you could do a double dip where you use your own fake app to "steal" money from a massive wallet you own and get apple to pay you back for "your loss". In addition to your other ill gotten gains.
- nathanmills 6mo agoThat's still fraud.
- alasano 6mo agoOf course it is.
- xethos 6mo agoOnly if you made it past Apple's developer review, which is their most public argument for why software must be vetted by Apple first. So are they infallible (preventing the headline and refuting your argument), or is there a point in time when some users know better than Apple, when their developer review does as much harm as good, and the Apple App Store is not the safe haven Apple likes to publically claim?
- tencentshill 6mo agoThey only needed it to exist on the app store for a week before stealing millions with zero recourse. These wealthy crypto people need to stop being cheap and hire financial advisors. The only reason for not doing so is if it was gained illegally in the first place.
- LunaSea 6mo agoI thought that Apple was reviewing each and every app which was the reason that justified them getting a silly 30% margin from all app revenues?
- 2OEH8eoCRo0 6mo agoI think people are less safe overall because they believe the walled garden is safe and they let their guard down.
- rafaelmn 6mo agohOw WOulD mY graNDparNtS AvOiD getTiNG sCAmmED iF APPLE did nOT locK dOWn evEryThinG ?
- throw1234567891 6mo agoThEY sHoUlD Pay AttENtIoN tO WhAt tHey aR3 d01n6!
- wiseowise 6mo agoBut have you thought of children? God forbid they give money to illegitimate scammers when legitimate one aren’t getting enough cash from legal gambling like loot boxes.
- SrslyJosh 6mo agoNot "investing" in cryptocurrency would be a good start. =)
- xethos 6mo agoApple takes a proactive stance towards apps that can even be used to access adult content. That's why Tumblr had a hard time. Saying the mere ability to access adult content is very likely to get one shut down, but crypto wallets are fine, feels like a double standard
- pants2 6mo agoApple only banned they app because they didn't get a 30% cut of the stolen crypto
- dude250711 6mo agoUnidirectional wall garden.
- pixel_popping 6mo agoEntering your seed phrase with that much money on a phone is really non-sense :/
- tadfisher 6mo agoSource article: https://www.coindesk.com/business/2026/04/14/a-fake-ledger-app-on-the-apple-app-store-just-drained-usd9-5-million-in-crypto https://www.coindesk.com/business/2026/04/14/a-fake-ledger-a... Choice quote: > Blockchain investigator ZachXBT later traced the stolen 5.92 BTC [0], showing it was rapidly funneled through a series of transactions into KuCoin deposit addresses, consistent with a broader laundering pattern identified across the incident. Ah, there's nothing else quite like a Seychelles-based cryptocurrency exchange which was booted from the US for facilitating money laundering. This is good for Bitcoin. [0]: https://t.me/investigations/313# https://t.me/investigations/313#
- post_break 6mo agoThankfully the App Store doesn't allow side loading, because it completely stops fraud like this. At least that's the number one reason why I keep getting told if we allow side loading this will happen.
- victorbjorklund 6mo agoIs there more scams of web3 in the App Store or on the open internet? Not defending Apple but kind of a strawman to claim they said it stops 100% of fraud and abuse. That’s like saying seatbelts don’t work because people still get hurt in car crashes.
- chocochunks 6mo agoThe App Store is totally safe, so I don't need to think about what I download or do any due diligence!
- nathanmills 6mo agoAnd don't you think its a strawman to compare only being and to install "" approved "" ($100/year for apple) software to a seatbelt? There is no use case for not wearing a seatbelt. That is not true for being able to install software.
- httgbgg 6mo agoPlenty of people disagree that there is no use case to not wearing a seatbelt. That you find it impossible to imagine makes it an even better analogy actually.
- array_key_first 6mo agoPeople can disagree with whatever, everyone is allowed to be stupid. But most reasonable people agree there's no tangible use case to not wearing a seatbelt. There are infinite tangible use cases to using software outside the app store, that reasonable people can all acknowledge.
- scotty79 6mo agoApple should be on the hook for that. If you moderate, you are responsible for damage.
- throw1234567891 6mo agoContact your representative?
- m132 6mo agoCensor, not moderate. Let's be honest.
- irl_zebra 6mo agoThis should not have happened. But I have a hard time finding any sympathy for cryptocurrency folks. The quote from the article: "I lost my retirement fund in a hack/Scam when I switched my Ledger over to my new computer and by accident downloaded a malicious ledger app from the Apple store. All my BTC gone in an instant." Leaves me really shaking my head. If someone has the knowledge to even buy bitcoin or cryptocurrency, I imagine they have enough knowledge to know how utterly crime-ridden and risky of a speculation it is. It's like if someone decides to put their retirement fund into buying bulk illegal drugs and then selling them at a massive markup. Pretty risky, potential high upside, but given they assessed and then accepted the risk, hard to feel bad when they get robbed of all their drugs and lose their retirement funds.
- throw1234567891 6mo ago[flagged]
- hnburnsy 6mo agoSo certainly the DUNS, phone number, and physical address information will give up the perpetrators, thank goodness for Apple developer registration.
- hnburnsy 6mo agoHere is the archived App store page... https://archive.ph/4RVLf https://archive.ph/4RVLf
- basilikum 6mo ago> people entered their seed phrases into the app, then discovered their wallets were immediately drained. Why did they cash out immediately? Wouldn't it be much smarter to send the seed phrase to a server and stay undetected for longer just collecting seed phrases until you sweep them all at once?
- alasano 6mo agomaybe they had a check to determine total value of all collected seeds and then triggered auto sweeps from a certain threshold to guarantee a minimum. Not sure what the game theory optimal way of stealing is!
- basilikum 6mo agoGame theory of cybercrime is way too interesting.
- basilikum 6mo agoThat would make sense. But perhaps they just made a transaction directly from the app to a hardcoded address. Not making any additional network requests might decrease the chance of being flagged by automated systems in the Appstore review process. Then again you could just disguise these requests as ordinary block chain connections. I'm probably over thinking this and it was just a quick and dumb money grab.
- cank 6mo agoa bird in the hand is worth much more than ten in the bush. The 'collect and sweep' strategy is extremely risky because seeds are perishable. You're racing against the app getting nuked and the users rotating keys.
- basilikum 6mo agoBut would people actually know and rotate keys? The moment the app gets nuked you could grab all the money.
- Kate5477 6mo ago[dead]
- pando85 6mo agoApple takes 30% for 'review' that takes 2 days. They call it 'security'