Three crypto users have sued Apple in California, alleging they lost a total of $1.8 million in Bitcoin due to a fake Sparrow Wallet app on the iOS App Store. The lawsuit claims the app, which was listed as the official wallet between May and August 2025, tricked users into entering their mnemonic phrases, after which their funds were transferred out.
Three users reported the damage separately.
The report indicates that the three plaintiffs suffered losses of $875,000, $840,000, and $120,000 respectively, all in Bitcoin. The plaintiffs stated that their trust in the app stemmed from its appearance on the Apple App Store and its inclusion in the cryptocurrency-related recommendation category.
Sparrow Wallet is actually a desktop-only wallet app available for Windows, macOS, and Linux, with no official iPhone version. The lawsuit argues that this difference is difficult for ordinary users to discern, giving counterfeit apps an extra layer of credibility.
The developer claims that multiple reports have been unsuccessful.
Craig Raw, the official developer of Sparrow Wallet, stated that he has been trying to report counterfeit apps in the Apple Store for years, but the process has been unsuccessful. More controversially, he attempted to upload an app with only text descriptions, ing iOS users that an official mobile version did not exist. This was deemed a risk by Apple, which threatened to suspend his developer account.
The plaintiff argues that Apple has long described the App Store as a "safe and trustworthy" platform, but in this case, the platform neither prevented counterfeit apps from being listed nor effectively distinguished between official developers and counterfeiters.
Apple says it has removed the app in question.
Apple did not comment specifically on the ongoing lawsuit, but its representatives stated that the fraudulent app in question has been removed and the relevant developer account has been closed. Apple also emphasized that the company blocked more than $2.2 billion in fraudulent app transactions and banned 193,000 malicious developer accounts in 2025.
This is not the first time a similar incident has occurred within the Apple ecosystem recently. The report mentions that about three months ago, a fake Ledger Live app caused Mac users to lose approximately $9.5 million.
Additional information:Sparrow Wallet's official product is only available as a desktop version and does not have an iOS mobile app, which is one of the key facts in identifying the counterfeit app in this case.
