NEED TO KNOW
- G. Love says he lost around $424,000 in bitcoin after downloading a fake app from Apple’s App Store
- Cryptocurrency exchange KuCoin froze a suspicious account linked to the theft, but noted legal steps are still required
- G. Love warned fans about scams and said he’s grateful for his health, family, and music despite the loss
The musician G. Love claims to have lost his retirement savings after accidentally downloading a malicious app on Apple’s App Store.
G. Love, whose real name is Garrett Dutton, 53, made the claims in a lengthy X thread on Saturday, April 11, writing, “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.”
He followed up by asking his fans for help.
“This is either pathetic or funny and I feel both ways even say anything, but if anybody wants to help me re-up here’s my BTC address 3KMbvNuTHRW8FkGo2gCrkbTEpfFNnTN8HH,” he wrote in a follow-up post.
The performer noted in a third post that he lost 5.9 BTC, around $ 424,000, which he had accumulated over a ten-year span.
Blockchain investigator ZachXBT replied to the thread, advising G. Love that he had traced the stolen bitcoin to nine KuCoin transaction addresses.
The cryptocurrency exchange commented on the thread, notifying G. Love that they had taken “temporary restraining measures and temporarily frozen the suspicious account for 7 days.”
“Please note that while we may assist freezing the suspicious account upon receipt of relevant information or a credible complaint, such actions are still subject to due legal documents and processes to ensure compliance,” said KuCoin.
G. Love took the time to reply to fans’ comments and questions.
He reassured them in one response that the incident occurred when he downloaded “a malicious Ledger Wallet app from the App Store on my new Apple Neo,” which turned out to be fake.
“Be careful,” he added in response to the user who said Apple “used to be pretty picky about checking out the apps they approve for their App Store.”
In another post, he confirmed that the only thing that got hacked was his Bitcoin.
” S—s but I will carry on with my life. A lot of people lost a lot more than me. Give thanks for my health, family and friends and my music,” he said.
G. Love ended his series of posts by calling out his critics and issuing a warning about scams.
“It’s just hard to get scammed,” he wrote. “F–k all yall haters that called me a liar. I been in the crypto circus since 2017. Today they caught me off guard. It was my own damn fault for not being more diligent. But let it serve as a warning. There’s so many scams.”
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PEOPLE has reached out to Apple for comment.
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