Apple faces lawsuit after woman gets scammed out of $80,000

An App Store user has cast doubt on its safety and reliability after falling for a crypto scam.

Apple is under scrutiny for allowing digital currency scam apps to appear in its App Store.

The California-based company is now involved in a lawsuit filed by Danyell Shin, a plaintiff who downloaded Swiftcrypt, a cryptocurrency trading app, from the App Store in 2024.

Shin then proceeded to lose $80,000 worth of deposits, becoming a victim of “pig butchering” scams, in which users are tricked into investing large sums of money, and scammers later disappear with the funds.

The lawsuit claims that by including these malicious apps in the App Store, Apple misled its users by making them think that the applications were “safe and trusted.”

“By maintaining exclusive control over the applications that may be downloaded on Apple devices, Apple has structured its ecosystem so that customers rely on Apple for the perceived safety and reliability of the App Store. Apple has actively and extensively represented to consumers that apps on the App Store are thoroughly vetted, trustworthy, and secure,” states the document.

It also included information and examples of Apple's claims throughout the years regarding app reviews, user security, and fraud detection. These claims made users believe that the applications on the app were safe.

According to Apple’s guidelines, crypto apps are supposed to follow licensing and regulatory standards. However, the lawsuit revealed that Swiftcrypt didn’t comply with these standards and shouldn’t have passed through the review process in the first place, reports the Mac Observer.

It’s been further claimed that “Plaintiff also overpaid for her iPhone” as the smartphone was supposed to include a secure App Store.

In the lawsuit, Apple has been accused for violation of competition law and for violations of California’s consumer protection laws.

The plaintiffs now seek financial damages and for the company to release “corrective advertising regarding the safety of App Store apps.”

The lawsuit could become a class-action lawsuit if more people come forward after experiencing the same situation as Shin. However, it is still being assessed whether this will be the case.

While Apple has been side-eyed by European regulators who implement laws under the Digital Market Act (DMA), to regulate the activity of big technology companies, Apple itself talked about the risks and threats if users start downloading apps that aren't from official app stores such as the App Store.