DeFiLlama Founder Hacks Own App to Expose Fake Listing on Apple Store

DeFiLlama's pseudonymous founder, known as 0xngmi, took drastic measures to have a fake DeFiLlama app removed from Apple's App Store. The fake app was designed to prompt users for their seed phrase, which grants full control of a crypto wallet.

After months of complaining to Apple about trademark and impersonation violations, the company failed to take action. 0xngmi then loaded a small test wallet with cryptocurrency and installed the counterfeit app himself, confirming it drained the funds as expected.

The DeFiLlama team had been trying to remove the fake app for months, but Apple's verification process was bypassed by the scammers using a defunct company's registration. This is not an isolated incident, as a similar case involving Sparrow Wallet also highlighted Apple's slow response to impersonation complaints.

0xngmi reported his findings to Apple and the app was eventually removed within days. He publicly disclosed the episode to warn other crypto teams about the risks of fake apps and to emphasize the importance of verifying downloads through a developer's official website rather than trusting an app store listing.