Apple and Google are asked to explain measures taken against scam crypto apps by U.S. lawmaker

Scam apps are an ugly reality of the App Store. Although Apple has a multi-layer review process to vet apps before releasing them on the App Store, scam apps somehow cheat the system and eventually rob users of millions of dollars.

A new report by the FBI revealed that scam crypto apps stole $42.7 million from 244 investors in just a year’s time. Now, based on the report, U.S Senator Sherrod Brown has sent letters to Apple CEO Tim Cook and Google CEO Sundar Pichai to explain what measures they are taking against such apps.

Apple

In 2021, scammers used the iPhone 13 launch event as an opportunity to swindle $69,000 worth of Bitcoin. Some crypto scammers stole millions by using fake App Store and dating apps and an organized crime campaign called “CryptoRom” was also discovered that used Apple TestFlight and web clips to distribute malicious apps on iOS and Android devices.

iPhone 13

Apple needs to answer how it prevents cryptocurrency scammers from misusing its App Store

As the popularity of Bitcoin, NFTs, and other cryptocurrencies is increasing worldwide, so are crypto scams, unfortunately.

Concerned by rampant crypto scams, the senator has sent Apple and Google a list of questions inquiring about the companies’ review process and criteria to approve a crypto trading app, measures taken to identify scamming crypto apps on their app stores, the processes to report fraudulent apps, notify consumers of existing or potential fake apps, and their collaborative efforts with other platforms in the past two years to remove or ban fraudulent apps.

Describe the review process your company takes before approving crypto apps to operate in your app store. In your response, please provide the following information:

    • The factors or criteria used by your company to determine whether to grant approval to an app, including the steps your company takes to confirm the app seeking approval is a trusted and secure app.
    • Describe the steps your app store takes to prevent cryptocurrency apps operating in your app store from circumventing app store policies by transforming into phishing apps. In your response, please describe in detail the frequency to which your app store monitors apps to safeguard against fraudulent activity as well as the steps it takes to remove apps determined to be fraudulent.
    • Describe all the systems and processes your company has in place for people to report fraudulent apps.
    • Describe all actions your app store has taken to alert people about actual or potential fraudulent activity associated with cryptocurrency investment apps.
    • Since January 2020, has your app store coordinated or shared any actions or activities with other app stores related to the suspension or removal of fraudulent cryptocurrency apps? If so, please explain.
About the Author

Addicted to social media and in love with iPhone, started blogging as a hobby. And now it's my passion for every day is a new learning experience. Hopefully, manufacturers will continue to use innovative solutions and we will keep on letting you know about them.

1 comment

  1. In recent times, technology has proven to be more sophisticated and just like any other currency that can be stolen or lost, crypto and other digital assets has proven to be more difficult to recover but not impossible, and just like searching for any other monetary currency, you need a trustworthy and honest agency or personnel who can track and recover the value lost or stolen, in my case I hired Assetsrepo. com, they followed the blockchain and was able to recover over 85% of my stolen funds within a couple of weeks. The fees for the services I received was fair and communication was excellent.

Comments are closed.