Q: Invalid Security Code - frustration !

ok apple you know what im tired of this crap so thanks i just broke my ipod in fustration. thanks for not resolivd this stupit little porblem. never ging to buy stuf from you guys again,

WORKED TRICK FOR VISA AND MASTERCARD PRE-PAID

Just go on website of your pre-paid card, enter your information to acces account and Update the info with your street adresse or only zip code.

Exemple. I got Mastercard pre-paid card from Vanilla compagny. I just update my zip code as same of my apple id and now, ALL WORK!

Try this!!

Good luck!

Yeah this is incredibly annoying. And there's a million different suggestions that DONT WORK.

Ok... this worked for me!

I have a VISA gift card and went to https://www.vanillavisa.com/

clicked "Register your Card" and you are done!

All it does is ask for your zip code.

My friends!!!! i have come up with the solution!! no bull ss....You will have to download applications through your computer and when you do that, you should be able to sync the applications to your ipod and from then you will be able to download throuh wi-fi!! thank me haha

NOPE! That does NOT work either! I have a balance of $37.25 PLUS I have my American Express info all correctly entered - tried both the 4 digit number on front AND the 3 digit number on back (that I knew wouldn't work, even though one who answered back in February said was the solution!) and STILL will not go through - not on my iMac, not on my iPhone, not on my brand new iPad - even if it is ONLY a FREE app I am trying to download. Too crazy! My husband is having the EXACT same problem on ALL of his devices as well.

SOMETHING needs to be done!

I noticed that a 4 digit number was automatically being attached to my 5 digit zip code.

So everytime I'm to buy something, I go before to the Account>Payment Type sesison to remove that code.

Leave just the 5 digit zip code, save it, and try again. Had worked for me.

Remember that the 4 digit number will be attached again, so everytime before buying, go there and remove it.

See ye!

Sorry for "Apple Force" that you resort to breaking your iPod instead of checking more thoroughly - that is REALLY not Apple's fault and you are the one that will be "hurt" by not "buying stuff" from Apple again.

I have been using iTunes since it first appeared. One other time I had this problem. Turns out it was my expiration date that had changed - I updated that information and all was well. This time, my husband nor I could get a perfectly good card to verify on the Security Code.

I read through some of these threads, found a phone number someone posted, got a GREAT customer support person who did not have the answer, but sent me an e-mail with instructions to go here:

http://www.apple.com/support/itunes/contact

This is Apple Support Express Lane, specifically iTunes. He directed me to select iTunes Store > select Account Management > Click Continue > Select My Topic is not Listed > State simple description (like: Invalid Security Code problem) > Give details of what all you have attempted to clear the problem, what device(s) you used, etc.

My husband & I resolved the problem ourselves, but for those of you still freaking out (we sure were!!), this is the set of instructions sent to me in response to that Express Lane case:

In order to attempt resolving this error that you're receiving, first try to verify your address with the United States Postal Service website and follow the steps below to get your account to work again. Here is the USPS link to verify your address:

http://zip4.usps.com/zip4/ (obviously, this applies to only those with US addresses. If there is something similar for the country in which you reside, check there)

Once you find your address listed in the proper form in regards to punctuation and abbreviation, please follow the below steps to manage account information/edit credit card or billing information.

First, remove your existing credit card from your account if there is one currently listed:

1) Make sure you're using the latest version of iTunes. It can be downloaded free of charge from the Apple website at:

http://www.apple.com/itunes/download

Note: Installing the latest version of iTunes will not affect your library or any items in your account that you haven't downloaded.

2) To launch iTunes and be taken to your Apple Account Information page, click this link:

http://phobos.apple.com/accountSummary

(If you are not already signed in, you will need to enter your iTunes Store account name and password and then click the Account Info button to sign in.)

3) The Apple Account Information page will appear. On this page, click the Edit Payment Information button, which is the second button from the top.

4) On the Edit Payment Information page, select "None" from the list of credit card types. This will delete your billing information.

5) Be sure to click the Done button at the bottom of the page to save your changes.

Now, to edit your address to what's being verified on USPS (or whatever site applies to the country you live in), and re-add your credit card information:

1) Visit the My Apple ID website at:

http://appleid.apple.com

2) If the site is not displayed in your preferred language, click the Change Language link in the upper-right corner, type the name of your language in the field that appears, then click the Save button.

3) Click the "Manage your account" link.

4) Type your iTunes Store account name (which is your Apple ID) in the Apple ID field, type your password in the password field, then click the Sign In button.

5) Click "Addresses" in the column on the left. If you have multiple shipping addresses, remove any out-of-date or duplicate addresses by clicking Delete. Also, make sure the state or province field is filled out correctly for each address. The last thing to correct here, is to ensure that you have entered the full '9-digit' zip code for your address that you should be using (possibly only applies to the US - not sure?). To edit an address, click Edit. Edit all of your shipping addresses and make sure the appropriate state is selected in the State drop-down menus (State of Confusion is not a vaild choice though we all seem to have visited that state! ).

6) Now click "Phone Numbers" on the left. The area codes should be in the area code fields and the phone numbers should be in the phone number fields. If an area code is missing, or if it is in a phone number field, your account information may not save properly.

7) Make any other necessary corrections, then click the Save Changes button.

8) Click Log out in the upper-right corner.

When you make your next purchase on the iTunes Store, you will be asked to review your billing information. At this point, you can change your information or simply click Done at the bottom of the screen to proceed. Once you click Done, you should be able to purchase on the iTunes Store without receiving the error that your address is invalid.

I added a bit to the information that was sent to me, attempting to make this set of directions more universal. I do hope this will help somebody - especially those whose frustration level rises to RAGE and causes them to hurt themselves by destroying their device(s) and/or stop purchasing these AWESOME devices that ONLY Apple makes!

Repectfully yours.....

Message was edited by: Marilyn Howard

For all who are still looking for the RIGHT answer - see my post on page 14 of this thread. I have all of the information straight from Apple - it will resolve your problem. My husband & I figured out how to resolve the problem on our own and THEN got the response from the Express Lane that was not as "express" as this impatient user wanted. Hopefully it will help all of you still struggling with this very frustrating problem.

Good Luck!

I had this same problem. What I did to solve this was, I made sure I had more than $10 in my checking account. I re-entered my information and the problem was solved!

  Problem Solved! 

my issue was with using my prepeaid Vanilla Mastercard,

i entered my information several time with the same result,

"Invalid security code"

I went to the vanilla mastercard site, entered my postal/zip code to activate online/Phone purchases.

.... with the same result afterwards "invalid security code".

The postal code i gave on the Vanilla Mastercard site was different then the one on my itunes accout,

i corrected my postal code with itunes to match the one i gave to Mastercard.

Once i corrected, and my information with mastercard and itunes Matched my problems were solved,

I am currently playing Rampage through Midway arcade app quite happily

For reference i did ALL this through my iPhone 4, and my prepaid card had approximately $7.00 on it.

This may or may not help. I was just experiencing the same problem. I keep a seperate account for all of my itunes purchases because apple takes forever to debit my account and when they do get around to it I have forgotten that I purchased something and already used the funds (yes I know that is my own fault). I was getting the same error noticed and continued to enter the code that I had right in my hand. It was incredibly frustrating to enter the number I was looking at with my own two freakin' eyes and then have apple tell me that the code is invalid. What I was completely missing is that I hadn't transferred funds back into my itunes account so what was really happening was that itunes was checking my account to verify funds and found none. You would think itunes would tell you that it was registering insufficient funds instead of telling you incorrectly that you were entering the wrong code it would be more helpful. I transfered enough to cover my balance and re-entered my security code and low and behold IT WORKED!!!! So this may not be everyone's problem but it was mine. Try verifying funds with the card that is accosiated with your itunes account. I would even bet that if you have made other purchases with that card at other places that those other vendors have gone in and placed a hold on your funds before completely removing them so even though your card may show a current balance that would cover your itunes charges, there may be other purchases that are closer to the front of the line for your money. Hope this helps. It did for me. Good luck.

Be sure you have "AMEX selected" BEFORE you enter your card information!!

Folks, this is not a actually a bug and has nothing to do with how much money you have in any account. But it is a poorly written form page:

HERE'S THE ACTUAL PROBLEM:

If you slowly mouse-over the payment vendor card icons, you will see an info pop-up that says "Visa", "Amex", "Discover", etc.  The type of card that the form is expecting (whatever payment vendor you already have) will say "xxxx selected" (whatever is currently set).  Click on the American Express card, the form will refresh and now the mouse-over for American Express should say "Amex selected".

Now enter your Amex card info and it will work. 

But there should be no reason the customer should have to specify the card type - that can be validated behind the scenes. But worse than that, it should at least clearly indicate what payment option it's expecting.  Completely unnecessary confusion here.

I fixed it by connecting my paypal account.

I have the exact same problem a little help would be nice grrrr.