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A bogus Bitcoin app on the App Store cost an iPhone user over $600,000 in savings

The 5 star rating made the app seem legitimate.

Bitcoin cryptocurrency on table
Image: Unsplash

iPhone user Phillipe Christodoulou lost over $600,000 ($1,000,000+ today) worth of Bitcoin in a matter of seconds, thanks to a scam app from Apple’s App Store. The app tricked Christodoulou into giving his credentials, and swiftly cleaned his wallet of over 17 Bitcoin.

Christodoulou had all of his Bitcoin secured in a physical wallet from a company called Trezor. He decided that he wanted to see exactly how much Bitcoin he had, so he searched the App Store for a companion app, using “Trezor” as his keyword. He found an app with a 5-star rating that used Trezor’s logo and claimed to be a companion app for the wallets. Turns out, it wasn’t.

In fact, there are no actual companion apps for Trezor wallets. This app was a scam that had somehow made its way past Apple’s security features. Once he put in his credentials, it was only a matter of seconds before Christodoulou’s entire Bitcoin balance was gone. Christodoulou puts the blame for this mishap on Apple, stating that the company “betrayed the trust that I had in them.”

Malicious apps are circumventing Apple’s security measures

Crypto scams are becoming common across the web, but it is surprising seeing that they’ve made their way to Apple’s App Store. While Apple does review all apps before they are allowed on the App Store, according to The Washington Post, some apps are approved as one thing but can be changed to have malicious intentions after the approval process.

The fact that apps are able to change into something else after approval is a very dangerous idea. It seems that Apple needs to take a proactive approach to weed out these malicious apps as they appear, before more people experience major issues, like what happened to Phillipe Christodoulou.

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Staff writer at KnowTechie. Alex has two years of experience covering all things technology, from video games to electric cars. He's a gamer at heart, with a passion for first-person shooters and expansive RPGs. Shoot him an email at alex@knowtechie.com

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