Fraudulent Charges on My Account and Denied Refunds

Question

Level 1

4 points

Fraudulent Charges on My Account and Denied Refunds

Hello everyone,

I hope someone here can provide advice or assistance, as I’ve been facing a serious issue with my Apple account and haven’t been able to resolve it through support.

Here’s what happened:

• Month ago, I noticed that my card was charged 13 times for $29.99, listed as “apple.com/bill.”

• The problem is, these transactions didn’t appear in my App Store purchase history, which led me to suspect they were connected to another Apple ID.

• After explaining the situation in a chat with support, they acknowledged the issue and asked me to call for further details.

• During my first phone call, a representative confirmed that these were fraudulent charges. It turns out my card was linked to another account (without my knowledge or permission) and that this account had hundreds of similar transactions totaling tens of thousands of dollars!

• I requested that my card be removed from this unauthorized account and asked for a refund of the $389.87 that was charged without my consent.

However, after waiting for two days, my refund request was denied. I filed an appeal, but it was rejected again.

I have a few questions that I really need answers to:

1. Why was my refund denied when it was confirmed that the charges were fraudulent?

2. How could my card have been linked to someone else’s Apple ID without my knowledge?

3. How can I ensure that my card is permanently unlinked from this unauthorized account?

4. What can I do next to get my money back, since this is clearly a case of fraud?

I’ve always trusted Apple to keep my information secure, but this experience has been really frustrating and stressful. I’d appreciate any advice or guidance from the community on how to move forward, especially if someone’s been through a similar situation.

Thank you in advance for any help!

Best regards

Posted on Oct 7, 2024 3:57 AM

Reply

Answer 1

Limnos

Level 10

419,581 points

Oct 7, 2024 4:21 AM in response to kindkote

If somebody found out your card information they could enter it into their account. I have even seen cases on this forum where it was a spouse who had with no bad intent been using a card shared with the other spouse. Once the first spouse asked the second one about card usage, the matter was resolved. No fraud was taking place.

I presume Apple also spoke with you about the possibility of these being charges through Family Sharing, if you are a Family Sharing Organizer?

There are many ways a scammer or thief can find out your card information, which have nothing to do with you using it with Apple. You can read about these online. Since this appears to be a case of true fraud, this has nothing to do with Apple. We had a fraudulent charge attempted (but also blocked by our card company) several years ago and the only time I had used the card recently was with an online retailer who probably didn't have the best web site security. You need to contact your card issuer and have them cancel the card. You can also see if they have some way of at least partially returning the funds. There may be a time window and if this has been going on for several months then some of the charges may be outside the time window for a refund since you may not have reported this in a timely manner. Note that this is not a refund from Apple. It is from your card company and has to be done though them. You need to check all charges to your card every month. Unfortunately that's just the the way you have to do things in this age.

Reply

Answer 2

Jeff Donald

Level 7

27,845 points

Oct 7, 2024 6:58 AM in response to kindkote

>>4. The strangest part of this whole situation is Apple’s behavior. "Yes, your money was stolen. Yes, it was a fraudster. No, we won’t refund anything. No, we don’t want to review the appeal properly.". I don’t understand why Apple’s anti-fraud responsibility is being shifted onto me.<<

Federal banking regulations establish liability in credit and debit card fraud. State law, in some limited cases, may affect some purchases.

Only the issuing bank can approve or decline a transaction. Federal law provides consumers protection for credit card fraud and some Payment Network Operators also provide protection. However, cardholders must notify the issuing bank within 48 hours or cardholders may be liable for any and all fraudulent charges and associated interest charges.

Report the fraud now to preserve your consumer rights.

Reply

Answer 3

kindkote Author

Level 1

4 points

Oct 7, 2024 4:23 AM in response to Limnos

@Limnos, thank you for your reply.

1. They did ask about Family Sharing, but I don’t use it. That was the first thing they checked.

2. Even if someone gets my card details, they would still need to confirm the transaction via SMS or another OTP. If this isn’t the case, then it’s a huge security flaw on Apple’s part.

3. I will be contacting my bank, but in this case, I want to receive a refund directly from Apple, not through a chargeback, as I don’t have the ability to quickly replace my card after it’s blocked.

4. The strangest part of this whole situation is Apple’s behavior. "Yes, your money was stolen. Yes, it was a fraudster. No, we won’t refund anything. No, we don’t want to review the appeal properly.". I don’t understand why Apple’s anti-fraud responsibility is being shifted onto me.

Reply

Answer 4

Limnos

Level 10

419,581 points

Oct 7, 2024 4:59 AM in response to kindkote

2) I have never heard of anybody having to confirm anything by SMS or (I have no idea what OTP is) when charging through Apple. It is not a feature Apple offers. In fact I have never seen this offered by any card company I have ever used. If charges are being made to your account and you have a mechanism to confirm them by SMS through your card issuer then it seems to me this is a failure on your card company's part if you were not asked to confirm these charges. I guess that system is possible but I have never heard of anybody using that system. I know that in our case somebody tried to buy something in a state several states away from us and the card company phoned us about this and we said we were not traveling, so they did not accept the charge.

Again, if it is true fraud then it has nothing to do with Apple. Apple made the sale under good faith. As long as you reported the false charges to your card company in a timely manner, your company likely has funds for handling fraudulent usage. This is just the way things are done with card fraud. It isn't Apple being mean to you; this is standard procedure across the board.

When I travel I carry multiple cards with me in case I have issues with one. You may wish to consider doing this too.

Reply