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Bitcoin Scam App Approved by Apple Robs iPhone User of $600,000+

There are viruses on the Mac and people who tried suing Apple for it got nowhere. Simply because no security measure is 100% effective.
This actually makes the case for the need for a vetted App Store. The TSA does not really need excuses to deny entry to anyone into the United States, they can just deny someone based on suspicion, yet terrorists enter the country. Apple denying apps already has caused anti trust lawsuits.
At the moment,
1) Apple can’t vet any app way too much because that will be an anti trust law suit.
2) Apple can’t look at the code of any other developer because that will be an anti trust lawsuit.
3) Apple can’t reject any app based on suspicion because that will be an anti trust lawsuit.
4) Apple can’t approve an App that could possibly misuse the data that users willingly give it because that will be a class action lawsuit.

Illegal apps use the bait and switch technique. Which means when the reviewer reviewed it, it worked fine. What is Apple supposed to do?
 
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Aeronauts said:
Apple should be made legally liable for money lost due to scam apps in the AppStore and forced to repay anyone who has lost money in the same way banks and credit card companies refund losses due to fraud.
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No problem, with that level of liability, there would be zero apps in the App Store
 
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laptech said:
This thread just goes to prove that many people will defend Apple 'no matter what'.

The man is being lauded as a fool, an idiot by many Apple supporting posters in here for simply doing one thing..trusting Apple.

The app was touted as being that from the offical company, it was not. Apple say every app is checked before being approved, the app was approved. Therefore why should the man have any doubts as to the legitimacy of the app when its being hosted on the offical app store and been approved for use in the app store.

The man had every right to expect that the app he was using was safe to use, it was not. The app store has been in use for many years. Over these years Apple knowledge of how fraudsters, fakers and scammers try to trick Apple to approve their app, would increase. The more tricks that get used, the more Apple becomes aware of the tricks and blocks them. If proper procedural checks were performed on the app it would have not got through the system. app users put their trust in Apple because Apple persistantly promote how safe the app store is to use.

Now someone has had a huge financial loss due to a fraudlent app, the majority in here are saying it is totally the man's fault and Apple are blameless.
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This thread goes to prove that many people will criticize Apple "no matter what" and use this as an excuse to advance an agenda that moving forward is not good overall for consumers.

That the detection of fraudulent apps is not 100% is a surprise to who? This only underscores the point a central authority is better than the wild west of multiple app stores that have no oversight, or potential oversight unknown.

To say the man "had every right". If I were trusting $600K worth of goods and had to give up my credentials, I would do double and triple diligence, and probably not use an app on any app store.

The optics are bad on this, but there is plenty of blame to go all around. Apple (or anybody that hosts apps) will never be 100% in detecting apps. To expect that is folly.
 
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To all these “Apple should have...” posts. Remember when Apple went to great lengths to vet each and every app? Remember how members of the developer community, the “tech experts”, blogs, podcasts, and such reacted to the long app approval times?

Five bucks says the Leo and the MBW crowd will be all over Apple on this.

Damned if you do, damned if you don’t.
 
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The one true culprit here is the thief that published the app. That said, if there's anyone to be cross with, it's the Trezor team. Their Brand Monitoring team should have detected this or any other app posted to the App Store, Google Marketplace, etc. that was impersonating their brand. Real banks have aggressive monitoring in place on all app stores for rogue apps impersonating their brand. Still, criminals only need to be lucky once to get their payday. Defenders have to be right 100% of the time, which is a ridiculously difficult winning percentage to maintain.
 
That much money would be safe and insured in a bank should anything happen to it. I'm not sure I would keep $660K in an electronic gadget with no federal guarantees of safety or insurance.
 
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laptech said:
The app was touted as being that from the offical company, it was not. Apple say every app is checked before being approved, the app was approved. Therefore why should the man have any doubts as to the legitimacy of the app when its being hosted on the offical app store and been approved for use in the app store.
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I guess you never read the TOS on anything you install? It seems as though you are paraphrasing your own perception of what they provide.

I sincerely doubt Apple claims that every app they host is free from malicious code or could not otherwise incur some level of risk for the user, despite their efforts to ensure legitimacy. It's unrealistic to believe that any company could, and I suspect you know that.

Furthermore, I reiterate my opinion that the app this person was attempting to install was from a company that sells only hardware products to protect against the risks that ultimately caused his loss - why in the world would you seek out an app for a device you purchased that is specifically designed to avoid software risk? If you check out their product, you can see they even make a big deal about ensuring their hardware item is legit by informing the user how to check the holographic sticker and packaging (thus warning about possible clones) - and yet you wouldn't take the same precautions for downloading the software? This guy owns most of this.
 
You purchase a genuine manufacturers part to replace a faulty part. The part turns out to be faulty and as a result damages the whole item. The owner complains to the manufacturer. The part is found to have a fault that got past the manufacturers inspection controls. As a result of this, the owner complains that it is ultimtely the manufacturers fault for not inspecting and quality checking the part properly and thus the manufacturer should reimburse the owner for any loss caused.

You download an approved app from Apple's app store. You know from experience and knowledge that Apple stringently check all the apps before they are approved. Once approved the app goes live in the app store. You download this approved app. The app steals all your money. The app is found to be fake and is purposely designed to steal peoples money. The stringent checking procedure failed thus allowing the app to get approved. Not Apples fault but your fault for not checking the app properly.

Is this really how the majority of MR members are seeing this??!!
 
I suppose if this guy fell for a phishing scam, he'd be blaming his email provider.

edit - the phishing email appears to come from the Treznor company and also has their logo. They claim it's important to log in using the provided link....

Same outcome.
 
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So this guy being duped by a fraudulent app isn't his fault, but Apple doing its due diligence and being deliberately duped by a fraudulent app is wrong. Good luck with that in court. #hypocrisy
 
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BYTEME420 said:
I guess you never read the TOS on anything you install? It seems as though you are paraphrasing your own perception of what they provide.

I sincerely doubt Apple claims that every app they host is free from malicious code or could not otherwise incur some level of risk for the user, despite their efforts to ensure legitimacy. It's unrealistic to believe that any company could, and I suspect you know that.

Furthermore, I reiterate my opinion that the app this person was attempting to install was from a company that sells only hardware products to protect against the risks that ultimately caused his loss - why in the world would you seek out an app for a device you purchased that is specifically designed to avoid software risk? If you check out their product, you can see they even make a big deal about ensuring their hardware item is legit by informing the user how to check the holographic sticker and packaging (thus warning about possible clones) - and yet you wouldn't take the same precautions for downloading the software? This guy owns most of this.
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The part in bold. Apple should be carrying out such checks as part of it's approval process. This is why people put their trust in Apple because Apple have said many times in company press releases that they carry out very stringent and vigrous tests and checks on apps before they are approved.

Why is it now a case of people saying it is the mans fault for not doing checks that Apple should be doing as part of it's approval process in the first place.
 
laptech said:
You purchase a genuine manufacturers part to replace a faulty part. The part turns out to be faulty and as a result damages the whole item. The owner complains to the manufacturer. The part is found to have a fault that got past the manufacturers inspection controls. As a result of this, the owner complains that it is ultimtely the manufacturers fault for not inspecting and quality checking the part properly and thus the manufacturer should reimburse the owner for any loss caused.

You download an approved app from Apple's app store. You know from experience and knowledge that Apple stringently check all the apps before they are approved. Once approved the app goes live in the app store. You download this approved app. The app steals all your money. The app is found to be fake and is purposely designed to steal peoples money. The stringent checking procedure failed thus allowing the app to get approved. Not Apples fault but your fault for not checking the app properly.

Is this really how the majority of MR members are seeing this??!!
Click to expand...

Your analogy is flawed. Apple is not the manufacturer here. They did not create the app. Apple is Autozone. They are the retailer, they did not create the part.
 
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laptech said:
You purchase a genuine manufacturers part to replace a faulty part. The part turns out to be faulty and as a result damages the whole item.
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A better comparison would be that you purchase a counterfeit part through a trusted reseller like eBay or Amazon.

Only in this case, no genuine part exists and you purchase something based on your expectations, and the part has the potential to cause significant damage. But you buy it and install it anyway on trust.

What is the reseller's liability here? Probably refund of purchase price.
 
laptech said:
The part in bold. Apple should be carrying out such checks as part of it's approval process.
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Did you read the article?

They did. The App was initially approved after the developer(s) specifically categorised it as a "cryptography" app (i.e. dealing with cryptographic hashes not cryptocurrencies, which are an application of such hashes) and specifically denied any association with cryptocurrencies.

It only "became" a fraudulent crypto-wallet during a subsequent update.
 
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You go the the Apple store and download Netflix (for example). You put in your CC details to sign up only to realise that someone has scammed your card in the process.
Now tell me, when you go to the App Store do you crosscheck ALL THE APPS yourself or you just 'rely' on the fact that its Apple's App store and its secure? Lets forget crypto or anything like that and be general. What do you think average customer thinks when using App Store? Do you really think most people go there with the mindset that they can be scammed or do you think they go there because they feel safe to use Apple's ecosystem?


99chickens said:
And Apple is supposed to verify that every one of the billion apps that is submitted each year is free of any copyright, patent, or trademark infringement?

please.
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laptech said:
The part in bold. Apple should be carrying out such checks as part of it's approval process. This is why people put their trust in Apple because Apple have said many times in company press releases that they carry out very stringent and vigrous tests and checks on apps before they are approved.

Why is it now a case of people saying it is the mans fault for not doing checks that Apple should be doing as part of it's approval process in the first place.
Click to expand...
People trust Apple because they put more effort into the verifications than the 'competition', but I doubt anyone thinks that there is absolutely zero risk in anything they offer.

Why is it now the case that consumers bear no responsibility either?
 
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quaresma said:
I can’t wait to see how fanboys will defend Apple
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For sure!
I didn’t get caught speeding one time.
So… there shouldn’t be any police, right?
My friend always claims that he donated $500 worth of clothes to goodwill whether he did or not to maximize tax refund & hasn’t got caught.
So… there shouldn’t be an IRS, right?

Same thing.

The notion that one scammer got away with tricking someone with an iOS app, so the App Store is ineffectual and doesn’t safeguard consumers is equally as silly as my aforementioned examples.
 
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Freida said:
You go the the Apple store and download Netflix (for example). You put in your CC details to sign up only to realise that someone has scammed your card in the process.
Now tell me, when you go to the App Store do you crosscheck ALL THE APPS yourself or you just 'rely' on the fact that its Apple's App store and its secure? Lets forget crypto or anything like that and be general. What do you think average customer thinks when using App Store? Do you really think most people go there with the mindset that they can be scammed or do you think they go there because they feel safe to use Apple's ecosystem?
Click to expand...
I think the level of risk is a factor here.

I sign up for something using a CC... The app steals my credentials. I panic and it's a pain, but I'm not concerned my entire life savings are gone without legal recourse at the bank.

This guy was on a whole other level.
 
One wonders... Has it been proven beyond doubt that the company in question was not involved?

It wouldn't be the first time a cryptocurrency company went AWOL with customer cash... Not to mention, they get to say "told you so!" and sell more products.
 
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