The US government has requested Google and Apple for information about how they implement safeguards and monitor crypto fraud in mobile applications hosted on their app stores.
Senator Sherrod Brown, chairman of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs, sent the letters out to Google and Apple, on Thursday, respectively. The Committee wants the tech giants to describe their review processes for apps that make it onto their stores as well as how they go about policing certain apps that bypass their store policies.
Brown has ratcheted up efforts to understand the scope of crypto-related scams. He also headed a hearing on “Protecting Investors and Savers: Understanding Scams and Risks in Crypto and Securities Markets”. The committee heard about hackers using marketing as a means to promote scams including the use of apps hosted on Google and Apple’s stores.
The executives of Google and Apple have until August 10 to provide their respective responses. Both the companies have to provide at least some screening for bogus crypto apps. It should be noted that Apple’s App Store review guidelines forbid scam apps and Google bars apps that enable illegal activity or dishonest behavior. Google and Apple allow users to report suspicious apps, they haven’t sent direct scam alerts. Moreover, both tech giants aren’t known to actively monitor apps in case they launch phishing scams.
Senator Brown reiterated that effective safeguards as just as important. The committee’s move comes after the FBI’s warnings about app-based cryptocurrency fraud which has already led to losses of $42.7 million. As such, Brown said it’s imperative for shops to protect investors against the damage.
