Apple Sued Over Fake iPhone Wallet App That Drained $1.8M in Bitcoin

Three Bitcoin holders have sued Apple in California federal court over a counterfeit Sparrow Wallet app that allegedly drained $1.8 million from their accounts.

The complaint, filed on July 24 in the Northern District of California, brings eight counts against Apple, including fraud, negligent misrepresentation, and strict products liability.

According to the filing, the plaintiffs downloaded a Sparrow Wallet app from the App Store that was actually a fake version created by scammers. The app mimicked the legitimate Sparrow Wallet, which is available on Windows, macOS, and Linux but not iOS.

Craig Raw, the developer of Sparrow Wallet, has been warning about copycat apps since January 2024. He tweeted that a scam version was still live weeks after being reported and advised users to download the app directly from the wallet's website rather than relying on App Stores.