reset apple id emails someone trying to hack my account

This is NOT a phishing scam

Then read past that part to the information on how to respond if it's not a phishing scam.

There are multiple people posting, and you are not the originator of this topic, so please don't act like you have the right to decide who gets to respond here.

thomas_r. wrote:

There are multiple people posting, and you are not the originator of this topic, so please don't act like you have the right to decide who gets to respond here.

No I am telling you I have researched the multiple people who posted - of whom I am also a victim

and telling you the info you posted is not relevant to this particular problem

I do not want inaccurate info clouding the responses of other people - you have repeated what other people have already suggested so you have not contributed anything new, please read the entire thread before responding

and telling you the info you posted is not relevant to this particular problem

Yes, it is. If you are seeing unfamiliar purchases being made on your Apple ID, it has been hacked. ("It" meaning your Apple ID, not your phone.) You need to respond according to the recommendations in my post... namely, changing your password, enabling two-factor authentication and changing the password on any rescue e-mail addresses.

thomas_r. wrote:

Yes, it is. If you are seeing unfamiliar purchases being made on your Apple ID, it has been hacked. ("It" meaning your Apple ID, not your phone.) You need to respond according to the recommendations in my post... namely, changing your password, enabling two-factor authentication and changing the password on any rescue e-mail addresses.

Yes, exactly what had already been suggested and acted upon, now what we would all like to know is how this particular event affected so many people

Why a person in Taiwan compromised so mnay accounts and downloaded a particular free game on the accounts

Can you assist with that explanation

We have already discounted virus/malware and phishing

The reason that someone might be downloading a free app is to enable theft of more expensive apps. Hackers often take the credentials from a free App Store app and insert them into an expensive one, in order to steal it. They can also then potentially sell it to gullible people who don't realize it should only be obtained from the App Store.

The problem is that doing this also embeds the Apple ID of the person who downloaded the free app into the stolen app. Not so good for the hackers... unless they use someone else's Apple ID.

As for why the people on this topic have been hacked by the same person... that's anybody's guess. Perhaps you all have rescue e-mail accounts on a host that this hacker has compromised. Perhaps your passwords weren't strong and were broken through brute force, after the hacker obtained a list of Apple IDs that included yours. Perhaps everyone here did fall for a prior phishing attempt, which allowed the subsequent hacking of the accounts. Those are just some possibilities, I'm sure there are plenty of others.

I have a unique apple ID - not used anywhere else, never used to sign onto a PC/Mac, never been used on iTunes

the apple ID is only used on the iDevice - the password is 9 characters mixed letters, numbers and symbols

All the compromises occured around the same time by the time stamps of the various posts (within 12 hours) - I have seen 9 different people with exact same symptoms so far (and they are just the people who report this)

and all had the same app downloaded by someone in taiwan

just find it odd and cannot for the life of me how this was done

the only place this apple ID would be stored is apple itself

Well, since this is the iTunes for Windows forum, perhaps you have a keylogger on your Windows machine. Or perhaps your rescue e-mail address is compromised... don't you have a non-Apple rescue e-mail set up?

There are plenty of possible ways this could have happened. What's important at this point is 1) understanding the consequences, and 2) understanding how to fix it and prevent it in the future.

Had the same thing happen, except for a free memory game. Pretty scary stuff.

I also just got an email from Apple saying 'memory *' was downloaded from Taiwan, I changed my password but what are they after downloading a free game?

Like the two posters above me, I also received an e-mail regarding a memory download originating in Taiwan. Several minutes later, I also received an e-mail stating that someone had changed my shipping and billing address.

Hi

I have just had the same thing happen except a different app was downloaded "girl town". Also from Taiwan. I have changed passwords etc but also worried, like you, as to how this can happen.

There must be something which links this together. I hope to find out too!

I had an email at 5pm to say my Apple ID was used by someone in Taiwan to download Girl Town. Have changed my password as advised in the email but worried that my account has been used for in app purchases. Checked App Store > Purchased and an app called Money OK was also downloaded.

That's a good point. I will keep checking account totals now.

However, I can't see to find any history of this app in my purchases on the device or in the cloud. Where will it have gone?

Thanks

I have just had the exact same thing happened, Girl Town downloaded from Taiwan. I've reset everything on my account so hopefully it should cease now. It is DEFINITELY not phishing emails because I checked on my account in iTunes and it said Girl Town under recent downloads. My credit card details have also gone from my account which is the most concerning part.

Something is definitely going on Apple, and it needs sorting.

I too have today received emails saying I have downloaded "Girl Town" and another about MoneyOK-Your personal finance and budget. I did not download these and am very concerned that Apple doesn't appear to be doing anything about this fraud / attempt.