iTunes Hacked? Apple Mum on App Store Chaos

(CNET)  Various blogs are reporting that it appears some iTunes customer accounts have been hacked and that funds from those accounts may have been used to purchase apps in the iTunes App Store.

On Sunday, Engadget reported an inexplicable uptick in sales of book apps by a developer identified as Thuat Nguyen. According to the blog, at the time of writing its report, Nguyen apps accounted for 42 of the top 50 books by revenue in the Books section of the iTunes App Store. Engadget went on to mention "a number of people reporting up to hundreds of dollars being spent unwillingly from their [iTunes] account to these specific books."

Blog TNW Apple reported that the phenomenon appeared to extend beyond apps by one developer, and that it seemed to be international in scope. It also ran excerpts from several posts to the MacRumors: Forums Web site.

"Yesterday my credit union contacted me saying there was suspicious activity on my debit card." TNW Apple quoted one post as saying. "Sure enough over 10 transactions in the $40-$50 area all on iTunes equaling to $558."

"Two users also indicated in the ratings for Nguyen's apps that their iTunes accounts have been hacked and purchases of those apps were made on their behalf. Up to $200 from these hacked accounts were reportedly used to buy the developer's apps," PC World's Daniel Ionescu reported.

A call made by CNET to Apple for comment was not returned by publication time, but Nguyen's apps have now disappeared from the App Store.

Nevertheless, it's probably a good time to change that iTunes password and keep a close eye on your purchase history.

Despite roaring sales for its new products, Apple has been getting a bit bruised lately. Among other things, the company's most-recent knock 'em dead gadget, the iPhone 4, has had reception problems; the company's response to the issue has been widely lampooned in the press; Apple faces a challenge from Google's Android operating system in the mobile arena; its policy regarding submissions to the iPhone App Store and its refusal to make the iPhone and iPad compatible with Adobe's widespread Flash software have been seen by some as a sign of control-freak tendencies; and the company's media policies have reportedly captured the notice of antitrust authorities.

[Glazoo]

My Itunes account was charged $150.49, 25 times a couple of weeks ago and I'm still trying to sort it all out (with no help from ITunes)

[davidd8000]

Case for the class action:
Apple says It's all "not our fault". Although I agree that they may not have CAUSED the accounts to be hacked, they:
- enabled it by having weak processes
- they failed to act rapidly when learned about the hacks
- they did not notify customers that we had been hacked
- they would have kept their commission had we not disputed the charged with the banks - making them part of the fraud
- they made us do all the work to rectify

Where's that class action?

[PeninaD]

At the beginning of June this happened to me. Charges, all under $50 at the iTunes store for Asian software or ebooks. Luckily I saw the email receipts as they came through, and I was able to cancel my card in time to prevent the third purchase from going through. Still waiting to see what my bank does with the two charges that went through. As for Apple, they eventually answered my emails (because there was no live person to talk to anywhere that night!), but were standoffish...they relented and took the unpaid balance off the account only after I pressed the issue, and from the tone of the letter, it was done grudginly. I never did get a satisfactory answer to why I could find hundreds of similar incidents over the last 1-2 years, and it was still going on.

[RoboBlogger]

It would be wise for an individual to use a PrePaid Credit card to make purchases over the internet so not to confuse it with purchases you make at the malls or stores. It's not that much of a hassle but it is much more safer when purchasing non-essential things over the internet.

[voxpopulus]

Say it ain't so Apple. I thought a major attraction was that Apple was hack proof.

[CBSTV]

Macintosh OS X is largely secure. The iTunes Store is a different matter.

[BAoxymoron]

Apple's Mac OS isn't even close to hack proof it just isn't a primary target of hacks. In fact it's security measures are realitively lax compared to the average person's PC but the attacks are also stronger as for hacking iTunes Stores its no different than hacking a basic email account

[modeknitter]

This happened to me last year, there's a pretty well known "birthday hack" and - as much as I LOVE Apple - they're resistance to addressing this is pretty awful. They pretend it's not happening.

I spent at least 40 hours on the telephone trying to get it resolved. End result, I'm out $160. Here's a link to my own blog post about it, with links to other sad folks http://modeknit.com/2009/09/29/hacked-off/

Has anyone started a class action suit about this?

[ToolMangler1]

You cannot sue a company that boasts that it has never been 'hacked',
Jobs and Co, say that 'only' Microsoft PCs get hacked. They also deny the 'holocaust', global warming and Obamas birth place.... (well maybe not the last one, but Jobs predatory business practices and faux 'innocence' stance tick me off.)

[davidd8000]

Happened to me as well and Apple has been horrible about it. They kept insisting it was fraud on my credit card by a third party, not taking any accountability for this whole issue. I've had to go through hoops to get this fixed. Of course they got "hacked", how else would charges come through from Apple. Not only that, but I think it is dishonest of them to say they were not hacked when they know they were and offer no explanation as to what exactly happened.

Had I not noticed, these charges would have gone unnoticed and Apple would have made money (their commission on app sales) - this, in my mind, makes them part of the fraud.

All I kept getting were standardized scripts and templates and not a direct response to the issue.

I am open to a class action lawsuit. I have all the correspondence and are willing to jump in.

[IndiasWorstTechSupport]

When "Close gets too Close, you Close up shop." And of course, don't ever use your real name to open up shop.