Last October, California resident Jacob Pearlman downloaded an Android version of a cryptocurrency wallet app called Phantom from the Google Play app store.
That was four months before San Francisco-based Phantom Technologies actually released an Android version of its digital wallet. The free Phantom Wallet app that Pearlman downloaded early from Google Play was a fake. And when he connected his actual Phantom wallet to the app, it cost him a small fortune.
“Less than 24 hours after downloading the fake ‘Phantom Wallet’ app from Google Play, Pearlman’s real Phantom wallet was drained of more than $800,000 worth of virtual currencies, including SAMO, USDC, ORCA, and SOL, as well as four additional NFTs,” his attorneys recount in a lawsuit that seeks to recover the stolen funds from Google rather than from the bogus app’s operator.
The complaint [PDF], filed in a Santa Clara County Superior Court, seeks to hold Google accountable for breaching its own warranty about its safety practices and its Terms of Service.
However, the court filing also states that Phantom on October 11, 2021 issued a public warning that Google’s store was offering shoddy goods. Back then, the real Phantom offered its crypto wallet as a browser extension for Chrome, Brave, Firefox, and Edge. Today, it provides iOS and Android versions as well as the browser add-ons.
“Phantom is NOT available on iOS or Android,” the biz tweeted last year. “Using a fake Phantom mobile app will result in your funds being stolen. Please help us by reporting these apps when you see them in the app stores.”
