US Senate Banking Committee Chairman Sherrod Brown has called on Alphabet and Apple to provide information on preventing cryptocurrency fraud in apps hosted in their stores.
Brown sent corresponding letters to the head of Alphabet, Google’s parent company, Sundar Pichai, and Apple CEO Tim Cook.
With such a request, he decided to apply to tech giants after the FBI reported on the activity of cybercriminals creating fraudulent applications for investing in cryptocurrencies. The agency recorded investors’ losses of more than $42 million.
According to Brown, crypto companies should take the necessary steps to prevent fraudulent activity. However, it is critical that app stores also have appropriate security measures in place, he said.
The senator asked Alphabet and Apple to report before August 10:
- about the process of reviewing cryptocurrency applications before they are approved for placement in stores;
- mechanisms to prevent the spread of phishing applications;
- Fraud tracking systems and measures to remove them if they are detected:
- Running processes upon user notification of such applications.
