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iTunes store account hacked

I'm posting this just to share my story and get reactions. It's a little detailed but I thought worth sharing.

On November 23, 2010 I purchased a single song from the iTunes store for .99. I used store credit that I had from a gift card I received last year. It was the first purchase I had made since July 2010.

On November 25, 2010 I received a receipt for 2 more separate orders to my account. These were for over $50 in iPhones apps. Here's a sampling of some of the purchases:

1 eREAD isoshu, v1.5, Seller: ChengDu YueTong Internet Information Co. Ltd (17+)
2 Plants vs. Zombies, v1.3, Seller: PopCap Games, Inc. (iDP)
3 Monkey Island 2 Special Edition: LeChuck's Revenge, v1.1, Seller: Lucasfilm International Services Inc.
4 Asphalt 5, v1.2.6, Seller: Gameloft (9+)
5 Let's Golf!® 2, v1.0.1, Seller: Gameloft (4+)
6 Frames & FX for Photos, v2.5.1, Seller: Imikimi, LLC (12+)
7 Stenches: A Zombie Tale of Trenches, v1.0.1, Seller: Thunder Game Works (9+)

I do not have a credit card linked to my account, so these were made using my store credit.

I have only 1 computer authorized for my account (my personal home computer). I live alone and no one else touches my Powerbook but me. I also DO NOT own an iPhone, so I would have no interest in apps.

After I saw these bizarre purchases, I checked my account. I noticed 2 strange things: My account information had changed: My street address was correct, but city, state and zip had changed to: Towson, MD 21286-7840. I have never lived in Maryland. Also, I noticed that my password recovery answer had changed to "Murray" in response to a question about my mother's maiden name. That's decidedly NOT my mother's maiden name. Also, my birthdate had changed to an incorrect month and day.

I immediately changed my password and my recovery question/answer challenge.

I reported problems on all of these purchases and also contacted iTunes Account Support by e-mail.

Within 24 hours I received an e-mail from "Vicki" at iTunes Customer Support. She wrote:

"When reviewing over your account "name@domain.net" and the two reported orders, it shows that the content purchased within them was acquired from the computer that is currently authorized for your iTunes account. So I strongly advise that you do consult with those in your household regarding the purchases made, and the charges that resulted from those purchases."

Further:

"I have gone and reversed the charges for the two orders....You will see a store credit in three to five business days....Please note that this is a one-time exception, as the iTunes Store Terms and Conditions state that all sales are final."

I am pleased that Apple is refunding my store credit and replied so quickly.

However, it is simply impossible that these purchases were made from my computer. Again, my Powerbook is the only computer I have ever authorized to access my account, and I am the only person with access to it.

I am not sure how this happened. Any thoughts or similar experiences?

Powerbook G4, Mac OS X (10.5.8)

Posted on Nov 28, 2010 3:43 PM

1,958 replies

eaklause

Level 1

0 points

Mar 28, 2011 10:17 AM in response to stereocourier

Same thing happened to me and I have emailed support and hopefully they'll refund me. I've only seen miscellaneous charges, via PayPal, and none provide any description except the cryptic, iTunes Store purchase. I verified my paypal account doesn't have these charges listed yet my bank account that is tied to my paypal account has been charged. I sent in one dispute...do I need to do an individual dispute for each charge? If anyone can help me that would be great. I'd also like to know what to do to make my account more secure. I normally enjoy buying music from iTunes but am happy to stop if I'm going be robbed.

proidg

Level 1

0 points

Mar 28, 2011 11:03 AM in response to arcane93

Many states have laws that require companies to notify the public and affected customers if they have reason to believe there has been a breach that has exposed personally identfiable data including credit card numbers, name, address and so on. For the folks on this list who believe that they have had such information exposed, I would encourage you to contact your local state Attorney General and report the incident to them. If you live in Massachusetts, Mass General Law 93H requires disclosure of data breaches.

<Edited by Host>

Nicole V

Level 1

0 points

Mar 28, 2011 11:30 PM in response to stereocourier

I received an email receipt from Apple iTunes store saying that I made $20.31 purchase worth of crap music and ring tones. Wasn't sure if the email was spam, so I opened iTunes to check my account, and my GC was drained down to $0.72. I changed my password. Didn't have any credit cards store for my account. I contacted Apple and will be waiting for a response.

I think this hack might have been linked to an email supposively from UPS that looked like spam, where I accidently clicked a link on my iPhone. The same day I did that, was the same day the bogus charges appeared on my iTunes account. Second time an account of mine has been hacked due to me trying to scroll on my iPhone, and links are accidently opened.

Hoping this gets resolved, although if I don't get the credit back, I'm definately never buying from iTunes or App Store ever again.

tecman69

Level 1

0 points

Mar 29, 2011 7:15 AM in response to stereocourier

I don't mean to be condescending here, but everyone everywhere needs to start using stronger passwords, and the registration site will tell you what is strong vs. weak. The likely scenario here is that your gmail / yahoo / yadayada account was dictionary attacked and as you had the same username/password for your iTunes account, what do you expect?

Now hold on! I am not inferring that everyone is doing this, it is just an example scenario. Actually, I find that Apple support is the most responsive and considerate I have ever seen, and I have been in IT & information security for almost 40 years.

tecman

Mar 29, 2011 7:59 AM in response to tecman69

My password was 12 characters, alpha and numeric, no words and had symbols... so I really doubt it was dictionary attacked. I also never use the same password on any site. AND... I was still hacked for two $40 gift cards.

ybenner

Level 1

0 points

Mar 29, 2011 8:45 AM in response to tecman69

My iTunes password was different from my email passwords, but anything is possible. The password has been changed to something much stronger.

I'm just floored by Apple's lack of assistance with this issue. I haven't received a word of information except to change my password. I contacted Paypal right away, but they haven't heard back from Apple either.

Mar 29, 2011 10:29 AM in response to stereocourier

Welcome to iTunes Store Customer Support! My name is *** and I am glad to assist you today.

I understand that you have been charged twice for an item "23400銀幣禮包" and would like a refund for the same. I realize how eager you are to find a solution to this issue.

I have reversed the charge for the duplicate purchase, which I understand was unintentional. You will see a credit of $19.99, in three to five business days. If store credit was used for this purchase, you should see the credit post within three to five business days. If you still do not see your store credit, you will need to sign out of the iTunes Store and sign back in.

Please note that this is a one-time exception, as the iTunes Store Terms and Conditions state that all sales are final.

P.S. This was not a duplicate purchase Apple both purchases were not by me I do not speak Chinese LOL as I stated to you in my original email!

Nicole V

Level 1

0 points

Mar 29, 2011 12:08 PM in response to aasasssasas

I received a similar response to the email above. We'll see what happens though. My Apple ID has been disabled, and I'm waiting for it to be enabled so that I can log-in and see if I was credited back for the items I did not authorize. One thing's for sure, I don't feel safe entering any credit card information with Apple. Guess if I need to buy any Apps, I'm just gonna have to keep getting new GCs.

DJBenson

Level 1

0 points

Mar 29, 2011 3:00 PM in response to ybenner

I've just received notification that someone has been spending my iTunes credit - a load yesterday (which I didn't receive notification for) and some more just now.

They've also authorised their own machine (which is annoying as you can't de-auth it yourself) and my card details have "gone missing". Have reported all the transactions to Apple and await their response but this appears to be a massive security breach...

DrDreTO

Level 1

0 points

Mar 30, 2011 6:02 PM in response to stereocourier

OK So I was dinged like a lot of people here. gift card balance drained $40 for texasholdem +inapp purchases. I never heard of the apps before they appeared on my account. I went app store and found that the offending app is still there amongst other apps by the same developer. Even the customer reviews warn people that these are suspicious apps.

This one seems to be pretty common in this thread, so the question is why the heck has that app not been pulled from the store to stop the bleeding???

I submitted my issue to Apple and am waiting for a reversal of charges.

Mar 31, 2011 10:15 PM in response to stereocourier

I posted on this thread March 18 or 19 about my experience getting hacked like everyone else here. I went thru various appropriate channels to get the problem identified on my account, etc. A couple of days ago I got an email saying my money would be refunded & that it might take 5-7 business days for that to happen..... I believe that I will be refunded, and that all of us in the same boat will be refunded if appropriate(some just had info changed with no unauthorized purchases).gh

Apr 2, 2011 4:22 AM in response to lizurdmom

I had the exact same problem 2-3 weeks back. Store credit stolen and payment info removed. I got refunded by Apple but I was expecting a better explanation as to why this happened. The problem appears to be pretty severe yet we hear nothing from Apple. I have yet to add my credit card details back into iTunes and I do not intend on doing so until confidence is restored. Horrible...

Apr 3, 2011 7:52 AM in response to stereocourier

This literally just happened to me last night. I contacted Apple about it after finding 2 random Akon albums purchased using the credit that I had in my iTunes account (for a total of $21.98). Since last night I just got an e-mail a few minutes ago saying that my account would be credited but that it would take 3-5 days to happen. Also my account has been disabled but I replied to the e-mail with the requested information so that I can have my account enabled once again. I just got my iPad 2 on Thursday so I'm a little annoyed that this happened.. but hoping that my account will be re-activated SOONER rather than later so that I can get back to downloading from the iTunes store. Interesting to see that I'm not the only one experiencing this problem....

Apr 3, 2011 7:58 AM in response to Adrien Washington

Wow after reading all of these threads its OBVIOUS that something is internally wrong within the iTunes store causing random charges to happen on accounts with funds already available. Apple really should fix this issue.. seriously there are too many people saying that their accounts are being drained to be considered a "hack" or simple coincidence.

Apr 4, 2011 1:13 PM in response to Adrien Washington

same problem, I have not used any Apple product in 9 months since I got rid of iPhone. Reinstalled iTunes on weekend to update old iPod, and almost immediately got hit with recipt email for purchase of "州撲克 HD, 240,000 籌碼, Seller: Hongbin Suo " Only had credit of $15, got $10 deducted. Emailled support.
2 computers authorized, only one with iTunes though. Cant deactivate the other. I've already changed password, and will remove iTunes. Address did not change, no CC on file.

iTunes store account hacked