US senator grills Apple & Google about fraudulent crypto apps

AppleInsider

A U.S. lawmaker has sent a letter to Apple and Google asking for clarification on how they prevent fraudulent cryptocurrency apps on the App Store and Google Play Store.

Bitcoin illustration

Sen. Sherrod Brown -- who chairs the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs -- penned two letters addressed to Apple CEO Tim Cook and Google CEO Sundar Pichai, respectively, on July 27.

In the letter, Sen. Brown asks for details on the "measures your company is taking to prevent fraudulent activity in your app store."

"In recent years, crypto trading platforms and exchanges have experienced a surge in popularity with millions of investors downloading mobile apps to trade and invest in digital assets," Sen. Brown wrote. "Millions of Americans use mobile apps to invest in unregulated digital assets, including cryptocurrencies."

More specifically, Brown appears to be concerned about reports of "fake crypto apps that have scammed hundreds of investors."

The senator's letter comes in the wake of an FBI report detailing fraudulent cryptocurrency apps and wallets that purported to be sound investment opportunities. The report warned that 244 investors had been scammed out of $42.7 million by fraudulent apps.

In his letter, Brown is asking for Apple and Google to provide details about their app review processes, the steps they take to prevent fraudulent crypto apps, and other information. He has asked both companies to respond by Aug. 10.

Apple has been slammed by accusations of enabling crypto fraud on its App Store in the past. Back in 2021, a man accused the company of allowing a fraudulent app that stole more than $600,000 worth of Bitcoin from him.

The Cupertino tech giant has also been a target of fraudsters in the past. Back in 2020, scammers compromised Apple's official Twitter account to promote a Bitcoin scheme. However, that type of crypto scheme is not detailed in Sen Brown's letter, which is focused on fraudulent apps and wallets for iPhone and other devices.

Read on AppleInsider

termsofuse

I thought congress wanted the App Store to be a free for all.

Roderikus

That’s a wrong assumption. It wants fair competition instead of (near-) monopoly

2morrow

termsofuse said:

I thought congress wanted the App Store to be a free for all.

They seem to want it both ways. Open App Store to competition but lock it down so people won’t get scammed. I assume a fine will come down with this. It’s all a way to get extra money out of big tech companies. 

TightLines

2morrow said:

termsofuse said:

I thought congress wanted the App Store to be a free for all.

They seem to want it both ways. Open App Store to competition but lock it down so people won’t get scammed. I assume a fine will come down with this. It’s all a way to get extra money out of big tech companies. 

Whats wrong with Apple and Google just doing proper due diligence on the apps they do allow on their platforms? Google is the worst - they seem to let any old piece of crapola to be put up on theirs… at least Apple gives appearance to have some quality control… but in this case they dropped the ball big time… a proper review would have likely identified this (or any app) as being the scam crypto (anything) has always been… one quick way would be see if you can actually get a real currency out of it in exchange for a crypto token/coin… 

Rgardless, even the biggest of the biggest are scam operators… namely we are even seeing the ones promoted and propped up by the main stream next greater fool recruiting agencies, such as CNBC and others, come under scrutiny… like coinbase… how many of these scam operators have to collapse before we see people get arrested and go to jail? Oh, thats right… they don’t put the financial crooks in jail - they give them consulting talking head pundit jobs at these financial networks… right? 

sconosciuto

TightLines said:

2morrow said:

termsofuse said:

I thought congress wanted the App Store to be a free for all.

They seem to want it both ways. Open App Store to competition but lock it down so people won’t get scammed. I assume a fine will come down with this. It’s all a way to get extra money out of big tech companies. 

Whats wrong with Apple and Google just doing proper due diligence on the apps they do allow on their platforms? Google is the worst - they seem to let any old piece of crapola to be put up on theirs… at least Apple gives appearance to have some quality control… but in this case they dropped the ball big time… a proper review would have likely identified this (or any app) as being the scam crypto (anything) has always been… one quick way would be see if you can actually get a real currency out of it in exchange for a crypto token/coin… 

Rgardless, even the biggest of the biggest are scam operators… namely we are even seeing the ones promoted and propped up by the main stream next greater fool recruiting agencies, such as CNBC and others, come under scrutiny… like coinbase… how many of these scam operators have to collapse before we see people get arrested and go to jail? Oh, thats right… they don’t put the financial crooks in jail - they give them consulting talking head pundit jobs at these financial networks… right? 

c'mon man, surely you know how this works by now. You only get serious prosecutions for fraud when you rip off rich people. #madoff

DAalseth

TightLines said:

2morrow said:

termsofuse said:

I thought congress wanted the App Store to be a free for all.

They seem to want it both ways. Open App Store to competition but lock it down so people won’t get scammed. I assume a fine will come down with this. It’s all a way to get extra money out of big tech companies. 

Whats wrong with Apple and Google just doing proper due diligence on the apps they do allow on their platforms? Google is the worst - they seem to let any old piece of crapola to be put up on theirs… at least Apple gives appearance to have some quality control… but in this case they dropped the ball big time… a proper review would have likely identified this (or any app) as being the scam crypto (anything) has always been… one quick way would be see if you can actually get a real currency out of it in exchange for a crypto token/coin… 

Rgardless, even the biggest of the biggest are scam operators… namely we are even seeing the ones promoted and propped up by the main stream next greater fool recruiting agencies, such as CNBC and others, come under scrutiny… like coinbase… how many of these scam operators have to collapse before we see people get arrested and go to jail? Oh, thats right… they don’t put the financial crooks in jail - they give them consulting talking head pundit jobs at these financial networks… right? 

Simple solution: To me Cryptocurrency and Scam are synonymous.

danox

DAalseth said:

TightLines said:

2morrow said:

termsofuse said:

I thought congress wanted the App Store to be a free for all.

They seem to want it both ways. Open App Store to competition but lock it down so people won’t get scammed. I assume a fine will come down with this. It’s all a way to get extra money out of big tech companies. 

Whats wrong with Apple and Google just doing proper due diligence on the apps they do allow on their platforms? Google is the worst - they seem to let any old piece of crapola to be put up on theirs… at least Apple gives appearance to have some quality control… but in this case they dropped the ball big time… a proper review would have likely identified this (or any app) as being the scam crypto (anything) has always been… one quick way would be see if you can actually get a real currency out of it in exchange for a crypto token/coin… 

Rgardless, even the biggest of the biggest are scam operators… namely we are even seeing the ones promoted and propped up by the main stream next greater fool recruiting agencies, such as CNBC and others, come under scrutiny… like coinbase… how many of these scam operators have to collapse before we see people get arrested and go to jail? Oh, thats right… they don’t put the financial crooks in jail - they give them consulting talking head pundit jobs at these financial networks… right? 

Simple solution: To me Cryptocurrency and Scam are synonymous.

They should never have allowed it in the first place why? They are scams just save and buy blue chip stocks, mutual funds, real estate in good locations John Houseman said it best.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gl9Cyn266Lo

teejay2012

Apps don't defraud people. Crooks defraud people with apps. What is the government going to do about all the crooks in the world? C'mon Senator.

baconstang

Wow!
You mean there are crypto apps that AREN'T scams?

crowley

termsofuse said:

I thought congress wanted the App Store to be a free for all.

Where did you get that idea?  Not at all.

Knoxer

Roderikus said:

That’s a wrong assumption. It wants fair competition instead of (near-) monopoly

Monopoly? Current estimates have Android account for 70% of the market and Apple holds 25%. There is choice and people that want a more open platform choose Android. The market and consumer choice shows as much.

I've talked to an App Developer and her answer was this: "I prefer to develop apps for the Google App Store because it is so much easier. However the platform I trust my data on is Apple as I know all the hoops it takes to get an app published on their App Store." Apple hires people, people are fallible and fall victim to the extraordinary ways scammers find to bypass even Apple's rigorous review processes.

Now that we have determined competition is not the problem here, what I believe is actually being asked is what are these tech companies doing to help protect customers from scammers. 

DAalseth

danox said:

DAalseth said:

TightLines said:

2morrow said:

termsofuse said:

I thought congress wanted the App Store to be a free for all.

They seem to want it both ways. Open App Store to competition but lock it down so people won’t get scammed. I assume a fine will come down with this. It’s all a way to get extra money out of big tech companies. 

Whats wrong with Apple and Google just doing proper due diligence on the apps they do allow on their platforms? Google is the worst - they seem to let any old piece of crapola to be put up on theirs… at least Apple gives appearance to have some quality control… but in this case they dropped the ball big time… a proper review would have likely identified this (or any app) as being the scam crypto (anything) has always been… one quick way would be see if you can actually get a real currency out of it in exchange for a crypto token/coin… 

Rgardless, even the biggest of the biggest are scam operators… namely we are even seeing the ones promoted and propped up by the main stream next greater fool recruiting agencies, such as CNBC and others, come under scrutiny… like coinbase… how many of these scam operators have to collapse before we see people get arrested and go to jail? Oh, thats right… they don’t put the financial crooks in jail - they give them consulting talking head pundit jobs at these financial networks… right? 

Simple solution: To me Cryptocurrency and Scam are synonymous.

They should never have allowed it in the first place why? They are scams just save and buy blue chip stocks, mutual funds, real estate in good locations John Houseman said it best.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gl9Cyn266Lo

Exactly, we have some money in the market and have done ok. The big item we have is some rental property. The rent has paid the mortgage and expenses for as long as we’ve owned it, and the housing market in the area is HOT. In a couple of years we’re going to sell the place, for way more than we paid, clear its mortgage, the mortgage on our home, all other outstanding debt, and leave us with a really nice chunk in the bank. THAT’s how to invest.

trackeroz

TightLines said:

2morrow said:

termsofuse said:

I thought congress wanted the App Store to be a free for all.

They seem to want it both ways. Open App Store to competition but lock it down so people won’t get scammed. I assume a fine will come down with this. It’s all a way to get extra money out of big tech companies. 

Whats wrong with Apple and Google just doing proper due diligence on the apps they do allow on their platforms? 

The point is that one of the mechanisms for doing ongoing "due diligence" is to have a defined and controllable curation process that includes not having side-loading apps that can masquerade as legitimate apps. So its more than a little hypocritical to talk about due diligence while pushing an agenda that will make that high impossible.

It will be interesting to see what rubbish story Google weaves on how they are protecting people.