Apple's App Store Comes Under the Spotlight for How It Handles Fake Crypto Apps

[MacRumors]

Apple's App Store is now coming under the spotlight for how it handles fake crypto apps that scam investors who think they're investing in real, legitimate cryptocurrencies.

In a letter addressed to Apple CEO Tim Cook, the chairman of the U.S. Senate on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, Sherrod Brown, inquires about the steps Apple takes in vetting, reviewing, and removing crypto apps before and after they become available for download on the App Store.

Apple already employs a strict set of rules for apps on the App Store, but Brown wants to know the exact steps Apple takes to prevent fake crypto apps from making their way onto the platform.

While firms that offer crypto investment and other related services should take the necessary steps to prevent fraudulent activity, including warning investors about the uptick in scams, it is likewise imperative that app stores have the proper safeguards in place to prevent against fraudulent mobile application activity.

In its App Store guidelines, Apple does lay out several policies for crypto apps on the App Store. Those policies state that crypto apps can not mine for cryptocurrencies using on-device processing, apps must not require users to complete tasks such as posting to social media in order to obtain currency and more.

Brown's letter, however, asks Apple to share details it takes specifically regarding how it responds to fake crypto apps. Apple is requested in the letter to describe the review process for crypto apps, the steps Apple takes to remove crypto apps that circumvent App Store policies, how often it reviews existing crypto apps against fraudulent activity, the steps users can take to report fraudulent crypto apps, and whether or not Apple has been part of any coordinated effort to remove fraudulent crypto apps from the App Store since January 2020.

Apple has until August 10 to provide all of this information to the committee. The same letter was also sent to Google CEO Sundar Pichai.

Article Link: Apple's App Store Comes Under the Spotlight for How It Handles Fake Crypto Apps

 

[JtheLemur]

Crypto anything is a scam lol just remove everything

 

[senttoschool]

Grow a pair and ban crypto. The entire crypto industry is toxic. They'll destroy any decency in life just to scam the next fool. Make laws that prevent crypto scams from happening. Then there won't be "fake" crypto apps.

13 years after Bitcoin was released, the only blockchain applications are money laundering, terrorist funding, buying illegal drugs, and making it super easy to create scams like ponzi schemes.

Let's also not forget that hundreds of thousands of talent went into creating scams instead of solving real-world problems.

Crypto is a disease/virus for humanity and the environment. We need to eradicate it.

 

[Spaceboi Scaphandre]

Crypto anything is a scam lol just remove everything

Grow a pair and ban crypto. The entire crypto industry is toxic. They'll destroy any decency in life just to scam the next fool. Make laws that prevent crypto scams from happening. Then there won't be "fake" crypto apps.

Sirs could you please stop spitting fax all over the forum?

 

[TheYayAreaLiving 🎗️]

Crypto Apps should not exist in the App Store. It’s nothing but a scam.

 

[dukeblue219]

"legitimate cryptocurrencies"
😆

 

[Spaceboi Scaphandre]

"legitimate cryptocurrencies"
😆

Obligatory reminder of the Squid Game Coin rugpull

 

[scheinderrob]

cant wait to see crypto crash further and everyone loses their money. completely pointless and waste of energy.

 

[I7guy]

This is a harbinger of what's coming to the EU.

 

[The_Gream]

Sadly it isn’t just the fake/scam crypto that needs to be addressed.

 

[arkitect]

This is a harbinger of what's coming to the EU.

That's a bit cryptic…
Could you expand on that thought a bit?

 

[ScottishDuck]

Crypto is a scam pushed by capitalist ghouls. Let it die.

 

[mrochester]

That's a bit cryptic…
Could you expand on that thought a bit?

I presume the complaint here is that Apple is not engaging in enough control to remove fake crypto apps, but the EU direction is to loosen Apple's control, making crypto scam apps even more likely to flourish.

 

[I7guy]

That's a bit cryptic…
Could you expand on that thought a bit?

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/eu-approves-landmark-legislation-to-regulate-apple-and-other-big-tech-firms.2350129/post-31231997

It's all in the above thread.

 

[Nuno Lopes]

This is free publicity for Apple App Store and it’s practices disguised as something else.

 

[ksnell]

Crypto anything is a scam lol just remove everything

I'm surprised to see this comment in a technology focused community. Asymmetric cryptography and distributed ledger tech are computer science breakthroughs.

While you may not require the benefits cryptocurrencies offer, there are many around the world that do not have access to traditional banking and it solves a problem for them.

 

[senttoschool]

While you may not require the benefits cryptocurrencies offer, there are many around the world that do not have access to traditional banking and it solves a problem for them.

No, it doesn't. First of all, the poorer you are, the more likely you are to get into crypto. This is because crypto is like a casino and the poor want a way to get rich quick. It's a ponzi scheme. The crypto that does the best at marketing will become the biggest ponzi.

Second, crypto exchanges or "crypto banks" have been going bankrupt left and right and taking customer tokens with them. Look up Celsius, Babel Finance, Voyager, and countless others that have locked customer tokens from withdrawing.

In fact, there's a saying "not your keys, not your coins". If you leave your crypto with someone else, you no longer own it if the entity goes bankrupt.

So people in crypto recommend that you become your own bank. Basically, you should be the one securing your crypto. In other words, there is no reliable banking in crypto.

tldr: The people who don't have access to banking are poor. Crypto ponzis love to target the poor. Leaving your crypto in exchanges ("crypto banks") is ultra high risk. The poor does not need crypto nor its risk. They need better infraustructure.

 

[genovelle]

Not really a good idea to tell the public and “criminals” exactly how they work to detect fake apps.

 

[erikkfi]

Hopefully Senator Brown will be happy with a response that starts with "At Apple, we believe..." and talks about how many work-hours they've invested in ensuring the App Store is a safe and reliable marketplace.

 

[contacos]

Show NFTs the door while u r at it

 

[Nuno Lopes]

Don’t worry guys. I’m sure Apple will soon launch their own Crypto currency. Than it will be the safest thing on earth. That’s the chess master plan.

 

[JosephAW]

Apple should just invent their own crypto and use every single iPhone in the world to mine.

 

[jakey rolling]

"Real legitimate cryptocurrencies." LOL.

 

[jakey rolling]

Asymmetric cryptography

Yes, that was a computing science breakthrough. The 1960's were a wonderful time.

and distributed ledger tech are computer science breakthroughs.

LOL. No. There is absolutely nothing innovative about what basically amounts to a very poor version of a massively-multiplayer Rube Goldberg Excel sheet.*

(* with the exception that at least Excel does something).

 

[ponzicoinbro]

It’s a disaster.

People I knew in India who ran internet cafe years ago.

They began to change their business to scam call centers. They became old and now their sons run these criminal businesses.

They bribe police and politicians to look away.

They cheat so many people globally, especially old grandmas in America.

Maybe you seen the scam baiters videos on youtube.

So much of this stolen money is laundered into cryptos and then the exchanges help them launder once more.

NFT has become the new step to launder the money stolen from grandmas.

They make all these cartoon monkeys and lions and then they buy the NFT from themselves to turn the stolen money into clean money.

And the American media and tech VCs are part of this problem. They also profit from this massive crime wave and pretend there is no laundering and stealing happening. They just write articles ‘Oh man look at this NFT craze’.

They don’t want to say the truth is all the stolen money and other crimes being laundered through these things.

When banks were doing these things they paid huge fines, sanctions, people arrested. So they stopped doing a lot of this and the criminals started creating these crypto schemes as a replacement.