Apple sued over a fake wallet that drained $1.8M in Bitcoin

Apple is facing a lawsuit from three customers who say a fraudulent Bitcoin wallet application on its App Store cost them a combined $1.8 million. The complaint, filed on July 24 in a California federal court, names plaintiffs James Ramirez, Christopher Ellis, and Jalen Delgado.

How the Scam Worked

The three plaintiffs say the malicious application impersonated the legitimate Sparrow Bitcoin wallet and instructed them to enter their seed phrases, after which their Bitcoin was transferred to wallets controlled by the scammers.

The scam worked in part because the legitimate Sparrow Wallet is a desktop application available for Windows, macOS, and Linux, and does not offer an iOS version. Any Sparrow-branded app on the App Store is therefore fraudulent by definition. The complaint also alleges Apple ranked the fake app into curated crypto collections, lending it additional credibility.

Ramirez allegedly lost Bitcoin worth about $875,000, Ellis lost around $840,000, and Delgado lost approximately $120,000, with thefts occurring between May and August 2025.

A Pattern Apple Was Warned About

The lawsuit argues Apple had prior notice and failed to act. Sparrow Wallet developer Craig Raw publicly addressed Apple's slow response to multiple fake versions of his app appearing in the App Store, noting as early as January 2024 that a scam listing had persisted despite weeks of reports. Raw later attempted to protect users by submitting a placeholder app containing screenshots stating that Sparrow Wallet is desktop-only, only for his Apple Developer account to be flagged for termination due to "dishonest activity," a decision Apple later reversed.

The lawsuit alleges that even when victims reported fraud, Apple often took little to no action, and says other fake Sparrow apps remain in the App Store. The plaintiffs argue the fraud succeeded precisely because Apple had spent years marketing the App Store as a uniquely safe and trusted environment.

In response, Apple said it has taken swift action to remove any apps impersonating Sparrow Wallet on the App Store and to terminate developer accounts associated with those apps. The company also pointed to its own analysis showing that in 2025 it rejected more than 371,000 submissions that copied other apps, were spam, or otherwise misled users. The plaintiffs are seeking damages covering all funds lost through the fraudulent application.

Sources
BleepingComputer: Apple sued over fake App Store crypto wallet app stealing $1.8M in Bitcoin
MacRumors: Apple Responds to Lawsuit Over Fake Bitcoin Wallet Scam in App Store
TechCrunch: Apple sued after alleged App Store crypto scam cost users $1.8M