Users reported stolen funds after installing the fake apps

Aug 9, 2016 05:20 GMT  ·  By

Apple has stepped in and removed eight iOS Bitcoin wallet apps that looked suspicious and some users accused of stealing their funds.

The apps are GreenAddress, Simple Bitcoin Wallet, Simple Bitcoin Wallet ™, GreenBits Bitcoin Wallet, Bitcoin Wallet, Bitcoin Armory Wallet, Blockchain - Offline Bitcoin Wallet, and BitcoinCore - Bitcoin Wallet.

A Breadwallet employee discovered these apps after he found that someone had used his company's icon and title to create a fake application that posed as the official Breadwallet iOS app.

"A fake [B]readwallet app using the same title and icon as the real [B]readwallet made it through Apple’s review process and was added to the App Store on July 29th," the employee wrote on Reddit using the name breadwallet_dan. "We took immediate action and had it removed, although a few users who inadvertently downloaded the fake app have reported having funds stolen from it."

After he reported the blatant Breadwallet clone, he also searched the iOS App Store for similar fakes that mimic his company's official app, and that's how he discovered the eight applications mentioned above.

All these apps used parts of the Breadwallet source code or visual markings trying to pass as the original, in an obvious attempt to trick and scam users.

It is unclear if these apps resulted in stolen funds, but it is almost clear that the people behind these obvious fakes didn't have the user's best interest at heart.

Fake apps are a big problem for both Apple and Google. Just yesterday, antivirus maker Dr.Web warned users that someone uploaded two fake Dr.Web applications on iTunes.

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