Fake Ledger App on Mac App Store Linked to $9.5M Crypto Theft

_{Photo credit: nuclear_lily / Shutterstock.com}

A fraudulent version of the Ledger Live app briefly listed on Apple’s Mac App Store has been linked to more than $9.5 million in stolen digital assets, according to blockchain investigator ZachXBT.

The malicious application impersonated Ledger’s official remote self-hosted wallet management software and reportedly affected users between April 7 and April 13 before it was removed. 

More than 50 victims had funds drained from their wallets during that brief window, with losses across assets including Bitcoin, Solana, XRP, and stablecoins such as USDT.

ZachXBT stated that the stolen assets were funneled through over 150 addresses allegedly tied to the AudiA6 centralized mixing service. Several victims suffered seven-figure losses, including one wallet drained of over $3.2 million in USDT. ZachXBT added: “I'd be curious to see if this presents grounds for a class action against Apple.”

Among those affected was musician Garrett Dutton, better known as G. Love, of G. Love & Special Sauce. Dutton lost 5.92 Bitcoin (worth approx. $438,000 at the time of writing) and wrote on X:

I had a really tough day today. I lost my retirement fund in a hack/Scam when I switched my Ledger over to my new computer and by accident downloaded a malicious ledger app from the Apple store. All my BTC gone in an instant.

KuCoin told the musician it had frozen a suspicious account linked to the stolen funds and noted that further action would depend on legal procedures. 

The theft highlights the importance of vigilance against phishing attacks that target crypto users with fake apps and websites. Ledger lists its official apps on its website and does not ask users to enter their 24-word Secret Recovery Phrase outside of their Ledger hardware devices.