Q: iTunes store account hacked

MTRoads wrote:

 

Sega's Response

 

Hi,

This is a result of your iTunes account being hacked and the hacker using it to make unauthorized purchases. It has nothing to do with our game other than being what the hacker chose to spend your money on. You will have to contact Apple Support to get this resolved as we have no access to iTunes billing.

Best Regards,
SEGA Customer Support

It may not have nothing to do with their game . And they may have no access to iTunes billing. Utimately they gain financially for the sale (or theft). Some how they are in cahoots with how this appears to be happening. That is what it appears to me.

You can read about this all over the Internet, going back to June 2011. It's alway Kingdom Quest, and it hits people how have a iTunes gift card balance or they link to Paypal to pay for iTunes or App Store items. I got hit for $90 just a few days ago.  Nine months later, no fix! Someone need to fix this NOW!

Send them a hand written letter. I don't know what else to say.

<Edited by Host>

A quick note about Carlo TD: Carlo has on numerous occasions tried to change the subject/focus of blame of this thread away from Apple.  Read his posts with care and look for obvious bias.

For those just joining us, here is a summary of this thread:

1. The majority of people on this thread are complaining about purchases on their account from a non-authorised computer.
2. In most of these cases, it is Apple themselves who first notice the purchases, but do nothing to stop the non-authorisd purchases from being processed.
3. A high percentage of complaints involve the use of gift-card credit, sometimes used within days of the credit being put on.  This has led people to suggest that the "hackers" have had access for a while and have been waiting for accounts to add credit before using the accounts.
4. Some complaints have involved PayPal accounts that are linked to iTunes and have been used by the hackers. Because PayPal accounts often have bank/credit/debit cards attached, these complaints have talked of large numbers of money being stolen/spent. Although these are unproven, I would reccommend that you unlink PayPal from your iTunes account, no matter how good your password is.

If you are a victim of any of the above, you MUST contact Apple/iTunes.  In all cases I have read about (and in my own case) Apple refunded the money within 3 days.  Be prepared that their explanation will accuse you of having a compromised computer.  IANAL, but IT IS MY BELIEF that accepting their refund is in no way acepting their explanation - you are just taking back what was stolen/taken from you.

Apple UK do apparently have a phone number (other have spoken about it in this thread) but I have never found it.  I contacted Apple through their, somewhat confusing, "Express Lane". Go to the link below and select [iTunes] > [iTunes Store] > [Purchases, Billing & redemption] and following the instructions.  Doing this got me my refund within a couple of days.

https://expresslane.apple.com/GetproductgroupList.do?PRKEYS=133314

Good luck, and let us know how you get on in this thread.

I just heard that another acct was hacked and the bank acct associated with the iTunes acct was entirely drained by iTunes store in small, incremental amounts of money. I have changed my iTunes acct as a precaution. The problem continues... In researching this here are some articles

CNN Tech Article Huffington Post Tech Beta News

I had my account hacked by Shanghai MUHE Network. Drained my entire account but Apple was quick to refund my money back. Had to cancel my credit card that was linked to my account  though due to fraud issues. What would happen though if it happens to someone twice?? Will apple refund it twice?? This is a huge problem!

Sounds like the smoking gun "Shanghai MUHE Network."  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x2OYIlJbWr8

I had no idea how this showed up on my phone. I know a friend of mine asked if my phone was jailbroken. He said that there is an app called Installous that has free app store apps which could have caused this. I must be a serious newb because I had no idea this was possible.

http://forums.toucharcade.com/showthread.php?t=123593

http://www.ipodnn.com/articles/12/03/30/music.scam.ran.for.over.a.year/

I've just been hacked by this kingdom conquest thing, luckily I only had £11 balance, sort it out apple

I checked my email this morning and discovered two emails from Apple.com my account was used to download something not on an previously authorized device. Neither offered help or suggestions other than changing password. What really makes me angry is that I don't even use iTunes anymore and haven't for many months because of all the issues I had with the iTunes platform itself-I don't even have it on my computer anymore. Now I have to go through all this BS to get the $5.39 back and report the transaction.

GAH! Apple what is wrong with you to allow this type of crap?

I reported the transactions (apparently more went through than showed on my end right away) and a few minutes (literally just a few minutes) later got this back:

"Dear Jamie,

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

I understand that you have unauthorized purchases. I know you are eager to get the issue resolved.

Jamie, to prevent further purchasing, I have disabled your account. I urge you to contact pay pal as soon as possible to request an investigation into the security of your account.

We have issued a refund for the items purchased without your permission. The decision to issue a refund was made after a careful review of your case. Please note that this refund is an exception to the iTunes Store Terms and Conditions, which state that all sales are final. A refund in the amount of $31.94 has been issued to the payment method(s) that were used to pay for the items.

If you suspect you are the victim of identity theft, consider following these recommendations:

- Contact the fraud departments of any consumer reporting company to place a fraud alert on your credit report.

- Close the accounts that you believe have been used without your knowledge.

You also have the option to remove your payment information from the iTunes Store. To remove your payment information:

1) Open iTunes and sign in to the iTunes Store.

2) Select "View My Account" from the Store menu.

3) Enter your password and click the View Account button.

4) Click the Edit Payment Information button.

5) Select "None" as the payment type.

6) Click the Done button at the bottom of the page.

The security of your account is important to Apple. If you would like to enable your account, we will manually reset the password for you and include helpful information for when you reset the password again yourself. It is recommended that you reset the password even if you wish to leave your account disabled.

If you would like to request that your iTunes Store account be enabled, please reply to this email.

To increase the security of your account I highly recommend that you follow the suggestions outlined in this article:

iTunes Store: Best practices for protecting the security of your account

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4156

Jamie, I hope this resolves your issue. If you have any further queries feel free to contact us we will be happy to assist you.

Have a nice day!

Sincerely,

Arun"

iTunes Store Customer Support

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

I work from Saturday to wednesday from 3.00am to 12.00pm Thank you for allowing me the opportunity to assist you

That's the exact email I got this morning, I also had other transactions that had gone through that I didn't know about.

I received 2 emails today  - each for purchase of a $50 GC as a "Gift for Branden".   What I dont get is that the receipts show my Account ID and Name, but an address in Goochland VA which is for a person named Branden McNxxxx --  I looked up the address on line.  My own credit card that had been associated with the account was no longer associated and both receipts reflect a CC with the last four digits that are not a CC of mine.  My CC is not charged.  No idea what happened or what to do ?