On the one hand, Ripple is fighting the US Securities and Exchange Commission in court. On the other hand, XRP hodlers also go the legal route. However, they did not do this against the regulator or an authority, but against Apple.
Apple allows Hackers to Steal from its Customers
In a document submitted to a federal court in Maryland, the plaintiff argued that Apple allowed hackers to steal their assets. It is reported that many crypto users have suffered severe losses after downloading an Apple app called Toast Plus.
This prompted Hadona Diep, a Maryland resident, to go to court. It alleged that Apple allowed such “phishing” applications, disguised as crypto wallets, in its app store, which led several Apple users to download and install criminal portals in their crypto accounts.
The plaintiff also alleged that Apple was “directly and/or indirectly” responsible for not verifying the software sold by its online store. The company controls the app store and allows vendors to list their applications and, until recently, withdraw 30% of the commission on every sale.
“The monopolistic App Store, therefore, generates tens of billions in dollars of revenue per year for Apple, though Apple’s charging of a 70/30 percent split on all revenue generated through applications downloaded through the App Store, whether through fees for downloads, subscriptions, in-app purchases, or service fees.”
Toast Plus is not actually an application, but a “fraud commissioning medium”.
Oddly enough, Apple recently settled another class-action lawsuit by a US software developer. It promises better terms for developers of most software that runs on iPhone. Although Apple claims the App Store is “the safest, most trusted place for users to get apps,” users of the Toast Plus app have different opinions.
Details of the lawsuit,
“Plaintiff believes that Toast Plus is a version of the well-known cryptocurrency wallet Toast Wallet because of the similar name and logo used for the application in the App Store.”
Is Apple Working With Toast Plus?
In 2018, Diep transferred 474 XRP to a crypto wallet that was closed the next month. She then linked her private key to Toast Plus in March 2021 but did not transfer any funds as she held these coins as an investment.
However, when Diep returned in August to check her wallet, she found that not only was her XRP missing, but her account was “deleted” on March 3, 2021. According to the plaintiff, the loss exceeded $5,000. In fact, it was also alleged that despite contacting Toast Plus, Apple, and law enforcement agencies, no one was responsible.
Diep is not alone, however. This seems to be a recurring issue as many users have listed similar complaints on ycombinator’s message board.
The above lawsuit pertains to anyone who downloads a wallet from the Apple App Store and is “entitled to statutory damages of the greater of $10,000 or $100 per day for each day of violation, actual and punitive damages, reasonable attorneys’ fees, and Defendant’s profits obtained from the above-described violations.”
