Apple is facing a new lawsuit in the United States after three users claimed they lost more than $1.8 million by downloading a fake cryptocurrency wallet from the App Store.
The case, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, accuses Apple of failing to protect users from fraudulent apps despite promoting the App Store as a secure platform.
According to the lawsuit, the victims downloaded an app called Sparrow Wallet, believing it was the official Bitcoin wallet. However, the legitimate Sparrow Bitcoin Wallet is not available for iPhones. After installing the fake app, the users transferred their Bitcoin into it, only to lose their funds.
The complaint states that James Ramirez lost approximately $875,000, Christopher Ellis lost around $840,000, and Jalen Delgado lost roughly $120,000. Together, the three plaintiffs say they suffered losses exceeding $1.8 million.
The lawsuit challenges one of Apple’s long-standing claims that its strict App Store review process makes iPhones safer than competing platforms. The plaintiffs argue that Apple encourages users to trust apps on its store because of its exclusive review system, making the company responsible when fraudulent apps slip through.
Court documents also reference criticism from Craig Raw, the creator of the real Sparrow Bitcoin Wallet, who previously complained that Apple allowed fake versions of his app to appear on the App Store.
The plaintiffs are seeking a jury trial and want Apple to recover their financial losses and receive additional damages. They are also asking Apple to provide clearer warnings and disclosures about the potential risks of downloading apps from the App Store.
Apple declined to comment directly on the lawsuit. However, the company told TechCrunch that apps impersonating legitimate software violate its App Store rules and are removed as soon as they are discovered. Apple also said there are currently no fake Sparrow Wallet apps available on the App Store.
The company also pointed to its latest App Store security report, which states that it rejected more than 371,000 app submissions in 2025 for copying other apps, spamming users, or attempting to mislead customers.
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