GoKawiilApple is being sued by three people who claim approximately $1.8 million in Bitcoin was stolen after downloading and using a fraudulent Sparrow Wallet application from the App Store.
The complaint, filed on July 24 in California, alleges that Apple failed to adequately review and monitor applications distributed through the App Store while promoting the marketplace as a safe and trusted source for software.
Plaintiffs James Ramirez, Christopher Ellis, and Jalen Delgado say the malicious application impersonated the legitimate Sparrow Bitcoin wallet and instructed them to enter their seed phrases.
After entering those secret recovery credentials, the victims allegedly had their Bitcoin transferred to cryptocurrency wallets controlled by the scammers.
The legitimate Sparrow Wallet is a desktop application available for Windows, macOS, and Linux, and does not offer an iOS version.
However, Sparrow Wallet's developer says that scammers have repeatedly published applications in Apple's App Store that impersonate the cryptocurrency wallet.
Victims lost Bitcoin after earlier warnings
According to the complaint, Delgado downloaded the fraudulent application on or around May 1, 2025, entered his seed phrase, and shortly afterward discovered that 1.05033242 Bitcoin, worth approximately $120,000, had been transferred to a scammer.
Ramirez allegedly downloaded the app on July 25, 2025, and lost 7.4 Bitcoin, valued at approximately $875,000. The complaint says Ramirez reported the fraudulent app and theft to Apple that same day, but alleges Apple never contacted him regarding that report or subsequent reports.
Just over a week later, on or around August 3, Ellis allegedly also installed the Sparrow app from the App Store. After entering his seed phrase, Ellis discovered that approximately $840,000 in cryptocurrency had been transferred to a scammer and immediately reported the app and theft to Apple.
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