Apple removes a trading app linked to crypto scams from the App Store

A popular smartphone app used to conduct currency transactions known as MetaTrader (or MT4 or MT5, depending on the version) was quietly removed from Apple’s App Store last Friday. As of this writing, the app remains available on the Google Play Store.

The app, which was created by a Cypriot-based company called MetaQuotes, has been used to carry out a new type of cryptocurrency scam known as pig butchering, where a fraudster builds a long-term relationship with the victim before convincing them to invest money over time . A key element of the scam is the use of fake cryptocurrency apps and websites, which claim to show the victim that they are making money from their investment, when in fact the scammer has taken it all.

Apple’s ban on MetaTrader comes two weeks later Forbes profiled a California-based fraud victim, who lost over $1 million last year. This victim, known as Cy, made all his alleged trades on the MetaTrader app, which showed him fictitious returns. At the time, Apple spokesperson Adam Dema said the company was investigating MetaTrade and looking at additional measures to protect App Store users if necessary.

MetaQuotes did not respond Forbes’ request for comment. Daniel Delnero, an Atlanta-based attorney with Squire Patton Boggs, who briefed Forbes late Sunday night that his firm now represents MetaQuotes did not respond Forbes’ request comment by press time. The company had not previously responded to several e-mails sent to the company’s e-mail addresses. No phone numbers are listed on the contact page for any of the company’s multiple offices around the world.

Neither Apple nor Google responded to requests for comment.

Existing installations of MetaTrader on iOS devices continue to work. However, there are some reports on Twitter of users claiming to sell iPhones with the app pre-installed for $15,000 in one case, or a “starting price” of 5,000 British pounds, or “$10k OBO,” an abbreviation for “or best offer.”

As Forbes previously reported, MetaTrader, which offers licenses for its software, does legal trading with actual brokerages. It is an agnostic trading platform, one used by regular forex traders like Oanda. But according to the Global Anti-Scam Organization (GASO), an advocacy group for fraud victims, MetaTrader also allows licensees to use a specific plug-in, known as Virtual Dealer, which can be used by fraudsters to “manipulate these market prices, and simulate account balances, profits or loss. Everything looks and feels real, but it’s all made up,” according to a GASO report.

MetaTrader has not provided any explanation as to how unscrupulous actors could use the software to illustrate fraudulent trades, nor what actions, if any, it has taken to mitigate this behavior.

In July, the chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, Senator Sherrod Brown, said wrote a letter to Apple CEO Tim Cook and Google CEO Sundar Pichai about how the companies evaluate and ultimately allow the proliferation of fake crypto apps in their app stores.

News of the app’s removal was first reported by FX News Group and Finance Magnates on Saturday.

In a WhatsApp text message sent late Sunday night, Cy, the victim who has still not been able to recoup any of his losses, said he was pleased Apple had removed the trading app. He had told earlier Forbes that a large part of the reason he was convinced to download it was that it had positive reviews and could be found on Apple’s App Store.

“It’s about time,” he wrote. “How many other sacrifices occurred before our voices were heard! [It’s] the right thing to do. But [it] doesn’t make me feel good as the damage is done.”

Jan Santiago, GASO’s deputy director, said the organization was “delighted” that the app was removed.

“If MetaTrader will not do anything about the serious issues raised by users who relied on them, the responsibility falls on platforms like Apple and the Google Play store that display MetaTrader,” he wrote in an email.