Apple's App Store Accused of Promoting Fake Crypto Wallets

A new lawsuit has been filed against Apple's App Store for allegedly promoting a fake Bitcoin wallet that stole $1.8 million from three users. The complaint, which was filed in California on July 24, accuses Apple of failing to adequately review and remove applications impersonating Sparrow Wallet.

The lawsuit claims that Apple knew about the problem with fake Sparrow apps more than a year before the losses occurred. Sparrow developer Craig Raw had been flagging unauthorized mobile versions of his wallet since early 2024, but variants carrying the Sparrow name continued to surface inside the App Store over the following year.

The plaintiffs in the lawsuit allege that they lost their cryptocurrency assets after downloading fake Sparrow apps from the App Store. Jalen Delgado allegedly lost just over $120,000 in May 2025, while James Ramirez and Christopher Ellis lost approximately $875,000 and $840,000, respectively, in July 2025.

Apple has removed the fraudulent Sparrow apps and terminated the developer accounts responsible for them. However, the company's handling of the situation has been criticized by the plaintiffs, who argue that Apple failed to warn consumers about the risk of theft posed by fake wallet apps.