2025-12-30 10:30:13

How many people realize they've been scammed only after clicking on a "normal" looking wallet app?

According to cybersecurity research data, 87 fake mainstream wallet apps have infiltrated the Google Play Store and Apple App Store, with a total download count exceeding 5 million. This large-scale scam has ultimately resulted in user losses of $170 million.

These fake apps follow a mature routine—they clone the icons and names of legitimate applications, pay for prominent positions in search ads, making it impossible to distinguish real from fake. Once downloaded and installed, the app will prompt you to enter your seed phrase or private key. You might think you're restoring your wallet, but your assets have already been transferred out. In the worst cases, a user was robbed of NFTs worth $8.7 million in a single incident.

Major projects like MetaMask and Trust Wallet have already taken legal action to request these fake apps be taken down. Apple has also stated it will strengthen the review process for crypto apps. However, security experts believe that simply tightening reviews is a superficial fix—it's not a fundamental solution. The truly reliable approach is to promote new solutions like hardware wallets and social recovery wallets, which reduce the risk of private key leaks from the source.

The problem is now clear: vulnerabilities in app store reviews give malicious actors an opportunity. The outcome of this cybersecurity battle depends on users' security awareness and the adoption of wallet security tools.

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AirdropBlackHole

· 12h ago

Really incredible, 87 fake wallets managed to scam 170 million, this review process is basically useless --- Hardware wallets are the real way to go, otherwise you'll lose everything sooner or later --- Looks like I still have to use Ledger; I can't trust even the most convenient apps --- $8.7 million worth of NFTs gone? I would die of embarrassment --- Apple and Google’s review capabilities are really laughable --- So, it’s not that your technology is bad, these scammers are just too professional --- Friends who have been scammed finally realize that seed phrases are really a death sentence --- The problem isn’t with the review process, it’s that users need to be more cautious --- Restoring wallets via social recovery sounds good, but when will it truly become widespread? --- That’s why all my coins are gathering dust in cold wallets...

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GweiWatcher

· 12h ago

87 fake wallets, 5 million downloads, $170 million lost... The level of absurdity is truly unbelievable.

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AirdropHunterZhang

· 12h ago

I have to say, it's about time to crack down on these guys who are constantly cutting new leeks every day. --- $8.7 million lost in one go? Now that's a real all-in. We small free users can't even play at that level. --- Still need to use a hardware wallet. Too lazy to fuss, but this time it's really a matter of life and death. --- No wonder I've seen so many people reset to zero; turns out they all clicked fake wallets. I was wondering why so many people suddenly disappeared. --- 1.7 billion dollars gone. How many people have been brought back to zero overnight? Cold sweat. --- Is this the best the App Store review can do? I think it's better to just download directly from the official website.

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AirdropDreamer

· 13h ago

Oh no, it's the same old trick again. Download a wallet and you immediately lose everything.

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MEVVictimAlliance