My account hacked & downloads initiated by hacker from Taiwan

Other people have posted about the same things over the last couple of days or so. You've changed the password on your account ?

You can view the purchase history on it on your computer's iTunes : log into your account on your computer's iTunes via the Store > View Account menu option, you should then see a Purchase History section with a 'see all' link to the right of it. Click on that and you should then see a list of your purchases.

You should also contact iTunes Support and let them know (these are user-to-user forums) : http://www.apple.com/support/itunes/contact/ - click on Contact iTunes Store Support on the right-hand side of the page, then Purchases, Billing & Redemption

I'd recommend changing the password for your primary email address and then add a rescue email and complete verification of the rescue email. Then update the Apple ID password.

See http://support.apple.com/kb/HT5312 for information about the rescue email.

Your credit card was probably removed from the account because any credit card information is useless to someone that is accessing the account on a new computer or device without authorization unless they are able to provide the expiration date and security code (CVV) of the credit card. The only information they can view in the Account Details is the card type and last four digits.

Just to add to what KP said, note that just changing the password on the Apple ID is not sufficient.

It's still unknown what's going on, but there have been a LOT of these kinds of attacks coming from Taiwan over the last few days. Changing the password on your Apple ID is an important first step, but since we still don't know how they're getting in, it's also important to do a couple other things.

First, you need to change the password on any rescue e-mail addresses associated with your Apple ID. That may be compromised as well.

Second, it's important to ensure that hackers cannot take control of your Apple ID away from you. You need to enable two-factor authentication on your Apple ID:

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT5570

Note that, if you have any devices running iOS 7, that second step is very important. If you don't do that, any hacker that gains access to your Apple ID could potentially make those iOS 7 devices permanently unusable by 1) changing your Apple ID so that you cannot regain access, and 2) locking the device with that Apple ID.

What country are you in ? The 2-step verification was originally only available in the US, UK, Australia, Ireland and New Zealand - I'm not sure if it's been extended to other countries since then

moreso with my personal data & my credit card details getting compromised, thanks to Apple 😟😮😠

Why "thanks to Apple?" There seems to be a lot of misinformation floating around out there, and a lot of people are pointing fingers at Apple with no evidence whatsoever.

Online accounts of all kinds get hacked all the time. The fact that there are a lot of Apple IDs getting hacked from Taiwan right now does not mean that this must be a problem caused by Apple.

Don't make assumptions that might blind you to the everpresent dangers of having any kind of account on an internet server.

I dont find the "Two-Step Verification" menu/option under "Password and Security" menu in my account.

I didn't realize that this was limited by country, but I would bet that KP is correct on that point. That's too bad. If you can't enable this feature, that makes it a lot more important for you to use very good passwords, both on your Apple ID and any rescue e-mail addresses. Don't assume your password is safe just because it has upper and lowercase letters and numbers... that is not necessarily the case. For best results, use different lengthy, random passwords for every account, and use a password manager to keep track of them.

We have another thread on Taiwan Apple ID compromises running here:

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/5691846?answerId=24351370022#24351370022

Always interested in linking these things up to look for common features if possible. My Wife had her account compromised on the 24th of dec 2013 and 2 apps (free ones) were downloaded. My guess is that this mechanism is used to see if the user keeps an eye on the email account associated with the Apple ID: a small "feeler" to see if the owner is watching. If they're not, I guess the account is then used for other means (in-app purchases, perhaps).

It seems curious how many of these are emerging from Taiwan.