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Cryptocurrency wallets are crucial for those who trade digital currency, as they allow people to store cryptocurrency keys and carry out transactions. While several wallet services also offer mobile apps to users, not all of them are safe.
Wallet drainers, or crypto drainers, are very common as they’re cryptocurrency wallets specifically designed to fool users and steal their digital assets. However, one of the most recent ones is particularly dangerous as it disguised itself as the popular Bitcoin wallet Leather. In reality, it’s a fake Leather wallet app that many users have already lost their assets to.
LeatherBTC warns of fake Leather Wallet app on App Store
On Mar 4, 2024, the legitimate Leather X account made a post on the social media platform. The purpose of the post was to warn users of a fake Leather Wallet app on the Apple App Store.
“PSA: The Leather Wallet app currently in the iOS store is FAKE,” the post reads. The company also stated that it doesn’t yet have an app on the Apple App Store and that it will inform users when the “mobile app is actually ready.”
While the application was published by a developer called LetalComRu, it used the official logo of the legitimate Leather Wallet app. Additionally, thanks to fake reviews, the app sat at an impressive 4.9 out of 5 stars. All these factors combined fooled multiple Leather Wallet users into logging into their accounts using their seed phrase. A seed phrase is a combination of words that help users log into their cryptocurrency wallets. Giving the seed phrase to others can be a huge account-safety risk.
The legitimate Leather account told those who entered their seed phrase in the wallet drainer to transfer everything to a new wallet. Those without multiple Bitcoin wallets scrambled to make a new one.
Apple took some not-so-quick measures
Luckily, Apple removed the app, but not before it did heavy financial damage. App developer George Burke reported that the fake Leather Wallet app “stole 38,000 STX after importing.” The quoted amount is the equivalent of over $120,000. Burke even provided a link to the transaction to back up his claim. While this is the loss of a single transaction, the total amount of digital assets stolen is unknown.
Apple confirmed to AppleInsider that the fraudulent app was downloadable on the Apple App Store for approximately two weeks before getting removed. It took some time for Apple to take action against the fake Leather Wallet app. However, some in the cryptocurrency space were aware of it for some time.