Apple Faces Lawsuit Over Fake Crypto Wallet App in App Store A federal lawsuit filed in California’s Northern District last week accuses Apple of enabling a cryptocurrency scam through its App Store. Three victims James Ramirez, Christopher Ellis, and Jalen Delgado lost a combined $1.8 million after downloading a fraudulent version of Sparrow Wallet, a desktop-only crypto app that has never had an official iOS version. The fake app, which appeared in Apple’s curated crypto collections, tricked users into entering their recovery phrases critical credentials that grant full access to crypto wallets. Instead of securing the data, the app transmitted it to scammers, who drained the victims’ Bitcoin holdings between May and August 2025. Losses ranged from $120,000 to $875,000 per user. The real Sparrow Wallet developer, Craig Raw, had repeatedly warned Apple about the impersonation since early 2024, even submitting a placeholder app with warnings to deter users. Apple initially terminated Raw’s developer account in response before reversing the decision. The lawsuit alleges Apple failed to act swiftly, allowing multiple fake versions to persist despite complaints. Apple’s official statement acknowledges that impersonation violates its guidelines and claims it removes such apps "swiftly." However, the plaintiffs argue the company misrepresented the App Store’s trustworthiness, citing fraudulent concealment and seeking damages under California law. The incident reflects a broader trend: Kaspersky researchers recently identified 26 crypto wallet impersonators in Apple’s ecosystem, many exploiting enterprise distribution certificates to bypass security checks. While Apple reports terminating 193,000 developer accounts and rejecting 371,000 copycat submissions in 2025, the case underscores that even vetted app stores remain vulnerable to sophisticated scams.