US Sen. Brown Pressures Apple, Google on Fake Crypto Investing Apps

Senate Banking Committee Chairman Sherrod Brown sent letters to tech giants, questioning them on their efforts to prevent scams that are costing investors millions.

By Jesse Hamilton

Jul 28, 2022 at 2:17 p.m. UTC

Updated Jul 28, 2022 at 2:40 p.m. UTC

Jesse Hamilton

Jesse Hamilton is CoinDesk's deputy managing editor for global policy and regulation. He doesn't hold any crypto.

Follow @jesseahamilton on Twitter

U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), the chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, is demanding answers from Apple Inc. (AAPL) and Google parent Alphabet Inc. (GOOGL) about what they’re doing to prevent fraudulent crypto apps that he said have robbed investors of more than $42 million.

“Cyber criminals have stolen company logos, names and other identifying information of crypto firms and then created fake mobile apps to trick unsuspecting investors into believing they are conducting business with a legitimate crypto firm,” Brown wrote in the letters to the two companies’ chief executives. “Alarmingly, far too many investors have fallen victim.”
Brown said it’s “imperative that app stores have the proper safeguards in place to prevent against fraudulent mobile application activity.” The letters questioned the firms about how apps are evaluated, including “the review process your company takes before approving crypto apps to operate in your app store.”
The senator’s committee is holding a Thursday hearing examining scams in the cryptocurrency industry.

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