Scammed through iTunes Account

Hogzy

If this is TLDR then you dont really have to read the Article. Just the first and last paragraphy

Just want to give people a heads up. Thought this forum would be best as most of you will have itunes accounts.
I received a call from AIB fraud Dept. this morning saying that i had suspicious activity on my Credit Card account. They pointed out a purchase on itunes at 23:30 on 25/01/11 (Yesterday) for €0.79. I had not made any such purchase and my itunes account didnt record any such purchase either. So my cards were cancelled and I am getting an new bank account number (which is such a balls)
I said i would give people a heads up because such a charge at first can look fairly innocent as i buy quite alot of apps/songs from itunes therefore might go unnoticed.
I did a bit of googling and found this:

Note: This news story came out last year, but many readers are still facing problems with fraudulent charges from iTunes.

A MyFox New York story warns about fraudulent credit card and check card charges that appear to be from iTunes. The first signs of the fraud include charges or pending authorizations from a APL*ITUNES business for $1.00 which might seem to be accurate or an email for gift card receipts that were purchased with your account. The fraud is happening to a wide-variety of people who may or may not have an iTunes account. From the news story:

The high-tech scam has claimed victims from New York to California. At the heart of it all is Apple's wildly popular iTunes. Victims say it starts with an unexpected e-mail for purchases they never made. That's how Rachel Katz from Manhattan found out, "I got two emails thanking me for my purchase."

But by the time victims get the e-mail receipt it's usually too late. The receipts appear to be legitimate, and come from Apple, generated by the user's iTunes account. The receipts show purchases for iTunes electronic gift certificates and charges that hit checking accounts, credit cards or PayPal depending on what the user has linked to his or her iTunes account.


Some of the thieves wait for the $1.00 charge to complete before hitting the account with even higher charges. Sending an initial small charge through first allows the thief to determine whether the account is legitimate.

Many victims of the fraud are having trouble fixing the situation. Neither the banks nor Paypal nor Apple accept ownership. Meanwhile, victims are left without hundreds, even thousands of dollars.

Brett Larson with MyFox recommends deleting your credit card information from iTunes. Instead, he suggests you fund your account with an iTunes gift card. The cards can be purchased from many retailers like Wal-Mart, Target, and Best Buy. Or, you can make iTunes purchases with single-use credit card number available from your credit card company.

I just deleted my credit card information from iTunes by going to Store --> View My Account. I clicked on Edit Payment information and next to "Credit Card" I selected the radio button next to "None."

If you notice an authorization or charges from Apl*itunes, contact your bank immediately. Here are some Tips to Avoid Credit Card Scams and information about disputing inaccurate credit card charges.

Update 7/9/10: iTunes recently announced it would start requiring the credit card security code to be entered for more purchases. They made the decision after one of its app developers, Thuat Nguyen, hacked into accounts and used them to purchase his ebooks. No word on whether the charges will be refunded to cardholders. Apple says 400 accounts were compromised, but another app developer says the number had to be higher for Nguyen's books to make it on the iTunes bestseller list. Source: PCWorld

http://credit.about.com/b/2010/07/02/watch-out-for-unauthorized-charges-from-itunes.htm

So make sure your Purchase history on itunes is accounted for and if so make sure it matches any charged made on your credit card.
If it wasnt for AIB calling me up i probably would never have noticed the 79c charge as i spend anywhere between 10 to 20 euro a month in itunes. One purchase can go unnoticed and then it could be too late.


EDIT: I also want to point out that i am extremely careful with my credit card. I am well able to tell a dodgy site from a trust worthy site so i was shocked that there was fraudulent activity on my account.

vinnycoyne

I've actually been hit by the same problem. Have to get a new CC number now. Pain in the arse, but at least AIB are looking out for these sort of things.

faceman

I use iTunes and the app store alot. I better go back through my purchase history...

Hogzy

vinnycoyne wrote: »

I've actually been hit by the same problem. Have to get a new CC number now. Pain in the arse, but at least AIB are looking out for these sort of things.

Yeah. Fair play to them. They are clearly on the ball. THey had noticed it so fast considering the it happened at 11:30 the night before. They were hardly going to call me during the night. Got the call at 10am so they really are on top of things.

BrianD

This is as old as hills.

Credit card scammers usually attempt to make a small purchase online before using the card further. It's usually the first sign that you are about to be plundered. Happened to a colleague of mine before. Small purchase on play.com followed up by a £4,000 purchase.

jester77

What is happening here?

Do app devs have access to the payment details of anyone who purchases their app?

aidan_walsh

jester77 wrote: »

What is happening here?

Do app devs have access to the payment details of anyone who purchases their app?

No.

Follow the Plan

I've just noticed two charges of 1.98 euro from itunes on my 3v card that I did not make

I don't have any bank details hooked up to itunes or 3v so I should be okay.........right?

Theres only 4 or 5 euro left on the card.

NetNinja

Follow the Plan wrote: »

I've just noticed two charges of 1.98 euro from itunes on my 3v card that I did not make

I don't have any bank details hooked up to itunes or 3v so I should be okay.........right?

Theres only 4 or 5 euro left on the card.

Those €1.98 charges are only temporary ghost or phantom charges. They show as Auth: ITUNES-EURO,LUXEMBOURG,LUX on the statement. You should automatically get the credit back after a few days. When you add a new card to itunes or purchase an app it checks to see if the card works with this auth: charge.

Auror

Follow the Plan wrote: »

I've just noticed two charges of 1.98 euro from itunes on my 3v card that I did not make

I don't have any bank details hooked up to itunes or 3v so I should be okay.........right?

Theres only 4 or 5 euro left on the card.

FtP that's correct, as the 3v voucher is a disposable one time number, the fraudsters would have no way of accessing your bank details.

NetNinja wrote: »

Those €1.98 charges are only temporary ghost or phantom charges. They show as Auth: ITUNES-EURO,LUXEMBOURG,LUX on the statement. You should automatically get the credit back after a few days. When you add a new card to itunes or purchase an app it checks to see if the card works with this auth: charge.

Had a call from my bank today to say visa international were in touch with them so say my a/c had been compromised, it seems the fraudsters are at it again.:mad:

iMax

heard of a scam last year (or maybe the year before) whereby a charge was made on your CC indexed itunes for the correct amount (usually 99¢). This was going on for months by an organisation in russia, just one or two charges over four months, went un-noticed for over two years, only came to light when the son of some old guy who'd passed away noticed it on his father's CC bill & the father hadn't owned a computer (didn't even have CDs only records).

The report estimated they'd been hitting up to 50 million credit cards every couple of months for 99¢ a time.

That's some sweet income.

bigron2109

Just took my details off, Thanx for the heads up.

BrianD

I think it's unfortunate that the article that the OP quoted is badly written and obviously the writer doesn't understand the issues.

Even if your account was hacked there is only a limited market for songs, apps or gift certificates to be gifted. Seems a lot of work for little gain. why would anybody bother to hit millions of credit cards for the price of a song?

What does happen quite frequently is that credit card scammers will use iTunes )and other online sites) to test a card number that they have obtained. If the small purchase goes through they then hit somebody else for a large amount,

Obviously people need to have their itunes account secured but they also need to be watching for those small unknown purchases that could come from iTunes (or elsewhere) on their credit card account.

RonanC

I had €30 credit in my account last night and it appears that someone has purchased a Poker app with my account and spent most of my credit overnight. No idea how it happened; none of my family/friends know my password so it's unlikely to be them.