There’s a new scam in the crypto market now, and it involves hackers using the Apple App Store to target crypto users by uploading fake trading apps that look just like popular Web3 platforms.
Although this method is not new, the fraudsters are reportedly buying old Apple developer accounts, renaming the apps, and redesigning them to appear completely legitimate.
The fake apps then rank high in search results, which makes them easy for users who do not suspect to trust and download. Once, transfers have been made into these apps, the funds are stolen almost instantly.
A crypto user via X username PixOnChain was quick to notify the crypto community about this scam. According to him, two users lost about $28,000 after downloading one of these fake apps.
“Scammers are buying old Apple dev accounts and renaming the apps to look like popular web3 trading dapps. They show up high in search, look 100% legit, but once you send funds, it’s instantly drained.” he posted on X, noting that these apps are appearing more frequently in recent weeks.
Under his comment section also shared their similar experiences. “Downloaded this yesterday at the wake of Binance meme szn and it was asking me to manually input my private key, bro who does that?” said a user. This request for a private key is an obvious red flag, as no genuine crypto app ever asks for this information.
Majority of the time, scammers are taking advantage of authoritative platforms and the excitement around the latest crypto trends. By using verified but abandoned developer accounts on the App Store, these fake apps can bypass Apple’s screening systems and appear trustworthy to users.
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