Fake Rabby Wallet Approved on App Store Before Real One

by
Cristian Lipciuc
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Rabby Wallet is a somewhat popular crypto wallet made by Debank that has been around for a while now and boasts support for 141 chains and multiple signing modes.

On the 16th of February, the company behind Rabby Wallet announced the launch of the beta version of its mobile app.

Unfortunately for fans of the platform, the app you find when searching for Rabby Wallet on the iOS App Store is, in fact, a drainer with no ties to the real app.

🚨 A FAKE iOS app has resurfaced. Please note that our iOS app is still under review.

Identify the real app by Developer: DeBank (Android) & DeBank Global Pte. Ltd. (iOS).

For secure downloads, ONLY use our official website: https://t.co/FZmFjG2o5X https://t.co/OX9HxHo354

— Rabby Wallet (@Rabby_io) February 16, 2024

Multiple Users Scammed

Reports have started to pour in that users who installed the iOS version of the app have had their crypto stashes completely drained. The discussion originally started on Reddit and continued onto the official Apple forums.

“This has been reported by many people, but the app is still in the appstore. The problem is the Real Rabby Wallet has an app under review by Apple, so this scammer’s approved AppStore App called “Rabby Wallet & Crypto Solution” is tricking people into thinking it is the genuine one, they enter their seed phrase or private key, and moments later all of their life savings, crypto belongings are GONE!”

According to the scammed users, the real Rabby Wallet is still pending approval by Apple, while the fake app, published by “VIET LONG FINANCIAL INVESTMENT JOINT STOCK COMPANY,” has been approved.

One particularly unfortunate investor reportedly lost just under 14 ETH to the scam, and he is far from being the only unfortunate target.

So today I was drained by a fake wallet on @Apple appstore. It was a wallet that resembled @Rabby_io and imported my seed in there. after that, the person behind the scam managed to removed most of my assets

So be careful with wallets even on app store (I thought a wallet was a…

— bthemouth (@bthemouth) February 16, 2024

Users have also reached out to Apple requesting reimbursements due to the company’s failure to vet apps on its store properly.

How Was This App Approved?

In spite of Apple’s relatively stringent approval process, malicious apps like this one occasionally slip through.

According to the Reddit user who started the thread, Apple Support has allegedly stated that the app had been approved as something else in the past, remained active, and then updated to resemble Rabby Wallets’ GUI shortly after the launch announcement was made.

“It seems this is a Long Con […]. What apparently happened here is this app was vetted and approved years ago into AppStore as I assume just some basic personal finance app, something generic. Then what they did is an “Update” that rebranded into the Phishing Wallet with Rabby Wallet artwork recently, and their update was approved before and created this whole mess.”

For now, users of Rabby Wallet are advised to avoid downloading the app from anywhere but the official repo to avoid their crypto stash being misappropriated.