An iPhone user downloaded an app from apple store that led to him losing his life savings.
Users are always advised to download apps only from Google Play Store and Apple App Store to prevent fake apps from getting into the phones.
But what happens when a fake app is approved by one of the verified app stores? Something similar happened with an iPhone user who ended up losing all his savings after he downloaded a fake Bitcoin app from Apple App Store. The user lost over $600,00 at the time of theft.
iPhone user Phillipe Christodoulou wanted to check his Bitcoin balance.
As per Washington Post, an iPhone user Phillipe Christodoulou wanted to check his Bitcoin balance and so he looked for an app called Trezor on App Store.
He spotted an app that had the Trezor logo with a green background. Without checking whether it is the original or not, Christodoulou downloaded the app and entered his credentials. Before he realized that the app was not genuine, Christodoulou had lost all his Bitcoin savings.
Fake trezor app.
The fake Trezor app was designed to look like the original Trezor app. However, it turns out that the app maker had created it to fool the bitcoin owners and rob them of their savings. But the bigger question is how did the fake app clear Apple’s review process. “Apple doesn’t deserve to get away with this,” Christodoulou told the Washington Post. Notably, Apple reviews all the apps that are submitted to the App Store before rolling out the apps on its platform.
Acknowledging the gaffe, Apple said that the fake Trezor app maker told the company that it has nothing to do with cryptocurrency and it is a “cryptography” app that would encrypt iPhone files and store passwords. However, once the app was submitted, it converted into a cryptocurrency app but Apple failed to detect that.