itunes credit card fraud

I tried to open an account. It took me through all the steps, then it asked for CC information, I started NOT to finish bUt itunes is supposed to be a very good company. After giving them all the information I tried to go to the itunes store it told me I needed to download it again as something had gone wrong. I spent about 2 hours trying to get to an itunes store. I finally gave up and cancelled all my information ( so I thought) Then the charges started coming in about 3 weeks later. Also itunes is the ONLY company that I used that card with online. Someone is getting the card numbers from itunes somehow!!!

Or, if you used the credit card somewhere else, information could have been stolen from there. My bank once replaced my debit card because some records from a supermarket chain where I had shopped were compromised. Online use is not the only way your information can be stolen.

Same thing here this morning - call from Bank of America that they have shut down my credit card after over $4000 was charged for itunes purchases over the weekend.

Way to go Apple.....looks like this has been going on for weeks from the looks of the posts I've been seeing. Couldn't you have at least let us know there was a problem and we should change our passwords or check credit cards?!?!?!

Same thing here. $1000 fraudently charged to my iTunes account. Apple won't close my account because they say I still owe them money (since I cancelled my card before the thieves stopped buying stuff).

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Got hit for over $200 over the weekend. Apple refuses to help or answer questions over the phone. I sent the email form that is supposed to take 24 hours for a response. It has been 72 hours and nothing. What the **** is Apple doing? I can't use Itunes at all now do to the pending charges on the CC that got canceled. Nice work Apple.

I had over $900 charged to my card on July 1. Apple has NO CUSTOMER SERVICE. What I learned from over 2 hours on the phone and on hold was that they pass the buck and refuse to try to help you. What kills me is that there is that unless you email, it is VIRTUALLY IMPOSSIBLE TO GET CUSTOMER SERVICE FROM THIS COMPANY.

I wanted to know why they charged my card but there was no transaction showing up in my itunes account. The girl on the phone was apparently talking to someone, but she was just someone from iphone support, and REFUSED to let me talk to an itunes person. When I asked for a supervisor, after 15 minutes on hold a guy came on who gave me a phone number for my bank to call - WAS IT A FRAUD PREVENTION DEPARTMENT? NO - IT WAS THE AUTOMATED VOICE TELLING YOU TO GO TO APPLE.COM/SUPPORT --- LOL ---WHAT A BUNCH OF LOSERS.

YOU LOST ME AS A CUSTOMER FORERVER WITH YOUR ****** SERVICE, APPLE.

I was also a recent victim, fortunately only a handful of apps downloaded for a total of £3, including, strangely, some free apps.

Anyway, it's spooked me enough to decide not to purchase any longer from the iTunes Store and, if I can't get content safely from there, abandon plans to upgrade my 1st Gen iPod Touch to an iPad or a new iPod Touch or an iPhone.

With this thread so long and reports of accounts being compromised elsewhere here and on the Internet, I'm surprised this story hasn't been picked up more by the mainstream tech press.

Thuat Nguyen also charged 4 invoices on my credit card on 7/3/10. Each invoice was for $44.91 and appeared to be in Vietnamese or Filipino. I waited 20 minutes for iTunes Customer Support on the phone to which they replied, we have no phone support. I asked to speak to their supervisor and they would not. They accept no responsbility for the fraudulent charges on my credit card, address and personal information being used. I called my bank (BofA, who also said to call iTunes) and ultimately had to cancel my credit card. BofA will reverse the charges, but I can only dispute the charges by calling BofA again in 7-10 days to allow time to post. Because iTunes has my credit card on file and I use Apple apps for my iPhone, iPad and PC/laptops, I am very concerned and upset about their lack of support and the security on their sites. It is almost impossible to find a phone number for Apple and get a Customer Service Rep on the line. How about providing some Customer Support for the millions of customers that are making you so darn profitable.

I have had problems with unauthorized charges to my account for 6 months. Apple refuses to discuss it with its own customers. So the charges get reversed and the credit card company loses money. Heck of a way to do business. Best way to avoid this is to get a Blackberry.

I'm sure people have posted this before but the chances are that you have not been 'hacked'. There is not a team of highly trained bespectacled individuals sitting in a basement somewhere trying to 'hack' into your account details - you are not that important. And even if there were, which there aren't, the last thing they are going to do if they've just spent hours 'hacking' your account is buy things from the iTunes Store.

Here are some useful tips to avoid crying hacker.

1: Are you using a PC? If yes then you've probably been 'keylogged' not hacked, Google it, find out what it is and get some decent malware remover - or buy a Mac. If you're being keylogged then changing your password won't help you as they will be watching every key y o u p r e s s.

2: Do you have kids? So what have these 'hackers' been buying, Haypi Kingdom / FarmVille credits? Really? Where do you leave your handbag these days, on the sideboard is it, half open, with a purse on the top? Little Malcolm may find that very tempting if his birthday is 6 months away! "But, but I asked him and he said 'No, it wasn't me'" You do realise that to a child online gaming is like crack? Don't believe me, take their machine away for a night and watch what happens.

3: Your passwords are rubbish. Yes I know life is complicated but must you use the same password for every login you use online. Your bank, eBay, Amazon if you're using the same password and someone does have it then your ID is their ID. Also, using your partner's name/birthday or your kids' names/birthdays is not secure; You are not the only person in the world that does this. If someone guesses your login details and buys something from the iTunes Store that's not Apple's fault it's yours for having a terrible password. Check this out: If I was to start randomly entering things like star:wars Darth:Vader Spongebob:Squarepants as a username/password would I be getting close to what you are using right now?

4: Human check-out staff. Ask yourself this, who is more likely to get hold of your credit card details:
a: Keanu Reeves and his band of leather clad cyberpunks working feverishly into the night, drinking red-bull and trying to break the 128-bit encryption on secure websites, or
b: The person on the till in the supermarket/petrol station who you 'physically hand your card over to'. It's not that difficult to remember a 16 digit number.

5: Use a credit card rather than a debit card. If you do get your card used by unauthorised persons then your credit card provider should cover you for this. Remember, someone in your house using your card without you knowing doesn't count as fraud.

6: Was it actually you? We've all regretted an impulse purchase but saying you got 'hacked' and you want your money back is just dishonest.

In summary 'hacked' very very very unlikely, 'keylogged' most likely, your password just guessed or someone you know used your card - possibly.

Let's see now...

1. I'm using a Mac.
2. I don't have kids.
3. My passwords have always been obscure foreign words with a mixture of letters, numbers and symbols. Same for the answers to my "secret questions".
4. I have been working abroad for the past year and haven't physically used my credit card in a store during this time.
5. I'm using a credit card, not a debit card.
6. I am not lying just to cover up an impulse purchase I later regretted.

So, explain now why my account was compromised and unauthorised purchases made, Mr. Spongebob:Smartypants? Seriously, your post smacks of such unbelievable arrogance and ignorance that you should feel ashamed. I can only assume that you have not experienced this fraud we are discussing here.

Fact is, I took all the necessary precautions (your assumption that the victims are largely to blame is insulting) and still had my account compromised.

Yep same thing today over 150 in charges. Obviously not mine as they are in chinese. I contatced my bank who stated that since May of this year they have noticed this issue and have tried to resolve the problem with Apple. They also have sent out a notice and personaly advised me to close out all of our Itunes accounts immediately since Apple is unable to get control of this fraud problem. After spending an hour and a half waiting for Apples customer service I was told they cannot close the accounts as Itunes is handled all online but they would try to have someone contact me within 24 hours.

Pandora just gained 4 new customers while Apple lost four. Wonder when they might realize they have a problem instead of just saying, "
Although Apple boosted the frequency of CCV requests at iTunes in response, the company denies that iTunes servers were hacked."

Read more: http://www.ipodnn.com/articles/10/07/12/artificially.boosts.chinese.travel.apps/ #ixzz0thjs57JX

Oh I should also state I changed my password today numerous times and after each change another purchase was attempted. Each purchase was voided out by my bank and now I have a long list of foreign purchases waiting for a credit card to bill them to. No I was not hacked.. sorry but I am not buying that at all. Apple knows they have this problem and it has been going on for months. It is cheaper for them to ignore it in hopes we quietly pay for the purchases rather then actually admitted it. If you google you will see numerous articles written about this issue that Apple continues to state is not a problem.

I suspect that the hackers who have a batch of stolen credit card numbers, are actually only "testing" the validity of your credit card number before they sell it. A list of credit card numbers wouldn't be worth anything unless it was validated first. iTunes is the perfect way to validate stolen c/c numbers. Many people have lots of small iTunes purchases anyway so one more doesn't get picked up easily when you look at your bank statement. (Why would fraudsters waste their time buying music or a $1 iPad app?)

If you do have a suspect iTunes purchase, even of low value, cancel your credit card immediately as there could be a larger purchase imminent.

I think it's quite possible that PC's have been affected by spyware which have forwarded your credit card details to the crooks.

Our bank has a credit card fraud department and systems in place to actively monitor suspected fraudulent purchases and to block further transactions until validated by the card holder. We were contacted immediately by the bank as soon as they picked up the possible fraudulent transaction. Many other banks have similar processes, so I suggest that you try to find a bank with similar policies and services and only use credit cards from these banks.

The main clue that a transaction is fraudulent is that most are from overseas, including purchases from overseas iTunes stores. That's probably why Apple and police don't bother taking action. It's pretty hard to pursue criminals overseas.