Apple class action over phishing app that led to crypto theft dismissed

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Update: 

• Apple does not have to face a class action lawsuit alleging it allowed phishing apps on the App Store that stole customers’ cryptocurrency, a California federal judge has ruled.
• On Sept. 2, U.S. District Judge Phyllis J. Hamilton dismissed the class action filed by plaintiff Hadona Diep against Apple, Inc in 2021. 
• The lawsuit alleged phishing app Toast Plus, which was available on Apple’s App Store, contributed to stolen cryptocurrency.
• Judge Hamilton ruled that Apple is shielded from liability under Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act. 
• He added that the plaintiffs had failed to specify the “who, what, when, where and how” behind Apple’s alleged misconduct.

Apple App Store phishing class action lawsuit overview:

• Who: Apple, Inc. 
• What: Apple is accused of allowing phishing apps in its App Store, which lead to customer’s losing cryptocurrency, the lawsuit alleges.
• Where: Nationwide

(Sept. 21, 2021)

Apple allowed phishing apps on the App Store, which led to customers’ cryptocurrency being stolen, a new nationwide class action lawsuit alleges. 

Plaintiff Hadona Diep filed the class action complaint against Apple, Inc. last Thursday in a Maryland district court, alleging the company had allowed customers’ financial information to be stolen.

Diep, a full-time cybersecurity professional, alleges that Apple allowed the hacking of her financial account information and theft of her personal financial assets by “authorizing a malicious application in the App Store… despite knowledge of the criminal activity.” 

She said Apple controls what applications may be sold or provided to consumers through the App Store by a rigorous vetting process. 

Trusting that Apple thoroughly vets apps before it allows them on the App Store, Diep downloaded an app known as Toast Plus from the store in March last year. 

She says she believed Toast Plus was a version of Toast Wallet, a well-known cryptocurrency wallet, as the names were similar and the logo used for the application in the App Store was nearly identical. 

Diep transferred the private seed phrase for her 474 Ripple cryptocurrency coins into Toast Plus in March this year. However, when she checked her account in August, she says she discovered that “not only did she have no XRP in the Wallet, her account was ‘deleted’ on March 3, 2021.”

After investigating, Diep says she discovered that Toast Plus was not in fact a version of the legitimate Toast Wallet application, but was instead a “spoofing” or “phishing” program created for the sole purpose of stealing cryptocurrency by obtaining consumers’ account information and routing it to hackers’ personal accounts.

Class Action Lawsuit Alleges Apple Committed Negligence and Violated the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act

She alleges that Apple has committed negligence and violated the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act and the Electronic Communications Privacy Act, as well as state consumer protection acts, by allowing the phishing app on its App Store.

She’s looking to represent anyone who downloaded Toast Plus from the Apple Store and lost cryptocurrency, as well as a Maryland Subclass.

Diep is seeking certification of the class action, damages, interest, fees, costs and a jury trial.

The class action lawsuit comes as Apple faces multiple class action lawsuits alleging it created a monopoly with its App Store, restraining and harming competition, stifling innovation, and damaging developers and consumers.

Do you trust the apps you download in the App Store? Let us know in the comments! 

The plaintiff is represented by Joshua G. Whitaker and Edward N. Griffin of Adelphi Law. 

The Apple App Store Phishing Class Action Lawsuit is Diep et al., v. Apple, Inc., Case 8:21-cv-02359-CBD, in the U.S. District Court for District of Maryland Southern Division.

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