Although I’m personally not much of a fan of Apple products, I would freely concede that when compared to Google Play, their App Store is significantly better maintained and ran. Specifically, in terms of keeping malware and other general garbage off it. It should be noted though that the Apple store certainly isn’t immune to problems and following a report via TechSpot, one man is certainly more than a little angry about this after losing $600,000 in Bitcoin!
Man Loses $600,000 Using Fake App Store Program
So, this will take a little explanation. In trying to keep it concise, however, the man in question (Phillipe Christodoulou) wanted an easier means of keeping track of his cryptocurrency and, as such, searched the Apple App Store for something provided by his wallet provider ‘Trezor’. Having found such a download (that looked entirely legitimate with the correct logo and decent review scores) he downloaded it onto his iPhone and entered his information to check how much his Bitcoin was worth (and how much he had).
There was, however, one major problem. This App had not been created by ‘Trezor’. It was, instead, a scam that successfully stole all of his Bitcoin! – Oh, and incidentally, the cryptocurrency wallet provider mentioned above doesn’t have an App of any description!
Apple VS Angry Consumer!
Despite freely admitting his error, Phillipe Christodoulou is claiming that Apple allowed a scam program to be hosted on their platform (one that looked entirely legitimate) and as such, he feels they should reimburse him for the money lost. What does Apple have to say? Well, not a lot really. They have confirmed that the App was fake and removed it from the store back in February.
How was it allowed to appear in the first place though? Well, apparently the scammers here submitted a very different initial program and pitch for approval on the App Store. And once that was received, they seemingly changed it for this Bitcoin stealer posing as a relatively well-known Cryptocurrency wallet manager.
So, while we sincerely doubt that Phillipe Christodoulou will be successful in retreaving any of his money back from Apple, perhaps you should let this pose something of a cautionary tale if you yourself have a tidy nest egg in digital currency!
What do you think? – Let us know in the comments!
