Account Disabled

My account was compromised last night and 2 purchases of $50 gift cards each were processed. I send Apple an email and just received information that my account has been disabled. I'm not happy about reading about Apple's response time to resolve the issue. I'll go to Paypal and dispute the charges. Hopefully they can do something about the lost money.

Some hacked into my account and charged two items (15.00) wiped out my gift card account. I responed to IToons about said purchace and never recieved a response. I guess I'm Just SOL, I'll never purchance another song from ITunes and will badmouth them to anyone who interest in a gift card. Lucky I nevered used my credit card. It's not the money It's the attitude of Itunes that we just don't matter.

I received the following response from iTunes today. As a result, I disputed the 2 transactions in my PayPal account. I have also provided Apple Support with he information they requested to enable my account, but as of now, it is still disabled.

Dear Xxxxxxx,

Thank you for contacting iTunes Store Support. My name is Xxxx and I will be assisting you today.

I understand that you are concerned about the unauthorized purchases made on your account, without your permission. I can certainly realize how disappointing it can be when something unusual happens on the account and I sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused you.

To prevent further purchasing, I have disabled your account and have disallowed your payment card from being used on the iTunes Store. Please note that you can enable your iTunes Store account in the future by providing specific information to iTunes Store support, as described at the end of this email.

I urge you to contact your card issuer as soon as possible to inquire about canceling the card or account and removing the unauthorized transactions. You should also ask them to launch an investigation into the security of your account. Under the circumstances the iTunes Store cannot reverse the charges for those purchases without chargeback orders from your card issuer.

I strongly recommend you change your account password immediately. Changing the password will help to prevent anyone else from using your iTunes Store account to place orders without your knowledge. To increase the security of your account I highly recommend that you follow the suggestions outlined in the following article:

iTunes Store: Best practices for protecting the security of your account
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4156

If you wish, you can also remove your payment information from the iTunes Store as follows:

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.

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.

If you would like your iTunes Store account to be enabled, please reply to this email with the following information:

1) The billing address listed on the account, and

2) One of the following:

- the order number of your most recent purchase
- the name of any item you've purchased using this account

I will use the information you provide to investigate the possibility of enabling your account. Please note this investigation could take several days.

Thank you for the patience and understanding. Have a great day!

Sincerely,

Xxxx
iTunes Store Customer Support

So I called the 800 number above on December 16 and got someone that, after 40 minutes on IM with iTunes support himself, said that iTunes customer support would send me an email within 24 to 48 hours.

Going on 20 days here...evidently someone hacking my account for $50 gets me 20 days without iTunes content purchases...or iPod updates...or iTunes TV subscriptions....

AND NOONE IN APPLE CLAIMS TO BE ABLE TO DO ANYTHING.

Posted more info here: http://cryptographrix.com/post/2337488619/itunes-account-disabled

I, too, was targeted with the $50 gift card scam. Here is the response I received from iTunes:

+I hope this email finds you well. Thank you for your patience. I have just+
+received a communication from the support team that deals with unauthorized Gift+
+Certificate purchases. To prevent further purchasing, they have disabled your+
+account and have disallowed your payment information from being used on the+
+iTunes Store. Please note that you can enable your iTunes Store account in the+
+future by providing specific information to iTunes Store support, as described+
+at the end of this email.+


+I urge you to contact PayPal as soon as possible to inquire about investigating+
+your account and removing the unauthorized transactions. The charge back+
+notification received from PayPal indicates they are in the process of this. You+
+should also ask them to launch an investigation into the security of your+
+account. _*Under the circumstances the iTunes Store cannot reverse the charges for*_+
+_*those purchases without chargeback orders from your card issuer.*_+

+I strongly recommend you change your account password immediately. Changing the+
+password will help to prevent anyone else from using your iTunes Store account+
+to place orders without your knowledge. To increase the security of your account+
+I highly recommend that you follow the suggestions outlined in the following+
article:

+iTunes Store: Best practices for protecting the security of your account+
+ http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4156+

I had already done all of the things suggested in their form letter. Luckily, PayPal was on the ball and got my $50 back after a week - their required time for investigations. ITunes never responded to PayPal's inquiries. I'm amazed that PayPal has over 80 million users (from their website) and I can reach a real person from the US in a matter of seconds with their 800#.

Now, I am left with an iPhone that is unable to update any of the FREE apps that I got from iTunes.

I hope we can all get this resolved soon!

<Edited by Host>

I sent that "required info" to POSSIBLY get my account enabled...to no avail. I received an e-mail from them stating that they reactivated my account, but when I try to update my iphone apps - I still get the "disabled" message. UGHHHH!

Reading this thread makes me that much more frustrated...I am experiencing similar issues as everyone else here after my account was compromised...no replies at all and really don't have the patience to wait on hold although I may ultimately have to...I was hoping to have this resolved before Xmas as I needed to download some songs as well as install the eight updates on my iPhone...this is beyond ridiculous!

Add another one to the list of the $50 Gift Card scam (in fact I got hit with TWO charges each for $50).

I now have a disabled iTunes account and $100 fewer dollars.

Apple support is zero help on this, so I guess I am SOL like everyone else.

Thankfully my account was linked to Paypal and I can actually speak to a REAL LIVE PERSON at Paypal and they are helping me get my $$ back.

Apple could take a lesson from Paypal on what real customer support means!!!

just got off the phone with Apple, yet again. NO HELP at ALL. None, Zero..just transfered around and then after about 30 minutes told to go to the web site and write an e-mail. WOW, that's TERRIBLE!!!

At this point I have no idea how to restore my account. ***??

I though Apple was the "WE NEVER GET HACKED" company??? so much for that.

Success!

After sending a third (or fourth) email to exclaim in horror that nothing has been done, I received the generic reply...and it also noted an account email that was NOT mine...I replied immediately and gave them the proper email and other info...just got an email now stating that my account has been enabled again...looks that way on the iPhone, will try on here now...I guess you have to go the "squeaky wheel" route to get the grease...best of luck to everyone else!

ARGH!

Still dealing with this, here.

So, on December 24, my account was enabled for a total of 4 hours. I couldn't buy anything (every payment method I tried wouldn't work), but, like the good iTunes Customer Support person said, I had 5 "song credits."

Four hours later, all of my devices were getting "You cannot buy because your account is disabled" again.

And, like before, no responses from iTunes customer support AT ALL (last response on Dec 27, standard form letter that responded to my Dec 24 first complaint about credit cards, etc. not working).

Sooooo fed up at this point. Way I see it, Apple just bricked $2000 worth of devices that I had connected to that account.

If Dell had ever done that to one of their customers, they'd be on the news so fast it would make their head spin.

But Apple gets away with this.

I have just had this problem so I looked in my account settings and noticed that I owed iTunes £2.38 and that my credit card had been blocked. I thought this was strange so I phoned my Credit Company and to my horror they have stated that a total of 13 transactions for £30 had been authorised in the last couple of days for iTunes.

My card has now been cancelled, I have paid with another card, changed my password, but I am still blocked.

Take a look at this as this is what my Credit Card company informed me:

http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/11/01/07/hackedapple_itunes_accounts_sell_in_china_for_pennies_on_thedollar.html

I too have this same problem. My account was hacked for a $10.00 gift card and now my account is disabled. I have contacted the lovely apple customer service dept. 4 different times and I have gotton nowhere fast.

Just tried that number.
You get a machine. It instructs you to buy a $29 dollar service agreement. And i just wanted them to fix my account so i could buy music?


It is strange that just a few months ago I had a problem with one of my songs, and I used the technical support email form to ask for help, and I was given help within 30 minutes. But so far I am on day 4 of having my account disabled and the response has been near silence. What the **** is happening to apple???