Apple sued over $1.8 million crypto wallet fraud
Three cryptocurrency users filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California accusing Apple of negligence after a fake "Sparrow Wallet" app on the App Store stole their Bitcoin. The plaintiffs—James Ramirez, Christopher Ellis and Jalen Delgado—report losses of $875,000, $840,000 and $120,000 respectively, totaling about $1.8 million.
The fraudulent app impersonated the legitimate Sparrow Wallet, which is only available for Windows, macOS and Linux and has no iOS version. Plaintiffs allege Apple marketed the App Store as a safe and trusted marketplace while failing to adequately review and monitor apps, violating California consumer‑protection law. The complaint also cites prior incidents involving counterfeit crypto‑wallet apps such as Ledger Live and Trezor.
Apple responded that it promptly removes apps that violate its guidelines, terminated the developer accounts linked to the fake Sparrow Wallet, and highlighted its 2025 enforcement statistics—193,000 developer accounts shut down and $2.2 billion in fraudulent transactions blocked. The lawsuit seeks full restitution and additional disclosures about App Store risks.
Entities: Apple Inc. · Christopher Ellis · Jalen Delgado · James Ramirez · Sparrow Wallet
Claims
What the coverage asserts, and how well corroborated each claim is across sources.
- [○ 1 SOURCE] Apple reports that in 2025 it shut down 193,000 developer accounts and blocked $2.2 billion in potentially fraudulent transactions. (Apple’s public data)
- [● 4 SOURCES] Apple is being sued in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California over a fraudulent crypto wallet app. (plaintiffs' filing)
- [● 5 SOURCES] The fake Sparrow Wallet app was distributed via Apple’s App Store even though the legitimate Sparrow Wallet has no iOS version. (plaintiffs' complaint and media reports)
- [● 9 SOURCES] Three plaintiffs—James Ramirez, Christopher Ellis and Jalen Delgado—lost a combined $1.8 million in Bitcoin to the fake Sparrow Wallet app. (lawsuit complaint)
- [● 2 SOURCES] Earlier fake crypto‑wallet apps such as Ledger Live and Trezor have also been distributed through the App Store, causing multi‑million‑dollar losses. (media reports)
- [● 4 SOURCES] The plaintiffs allege Apple violated California consumer‑protection law by marketing the App Store as safe while failing to properly review apps. (lawsuit complaint)
- [● 3 SOURCES] Apple removed the fraudulent Sparrow Wallet apps and terminated the associated developer accounts after the complaints. (Apple’s response)
- [● 4 SOURCES] Craig Raw, creator of the legitimate Sparrow Wallet, publicly criticized Apple for allowing fake versions to remain in the App Store. (media quotes)