I think my iTunes account was hacked?

iTone · Jan 1, 2008

Earlier tonight i was trying to connect my sisters account and mine (to add an allowance). I signed in to my iTunes account and it immediately said in a pop up that my information had been recently changed. I clicked ok and it took me to the name/address/phone number page. I noticed that the name, address, and phone number WERE NOT MINE. Ok the address was my previous living address but i moved from that address almost a year ago. The name was not mine and the phone number was a number from Baltimore Maryland, i'm from and live in California! I called the number and voice mail picked up, the man in the message said his name and it matched the name in my account. Did some guy hack my account to try and get free music? Thank god that i didn't have a credit card on file. Otherwise this guy could have done some damage. I took off the credit card a few months ago when i updated my address. Does this happen often? If there somewhere i can call to give iTunes a heads up? I already changed my password and put in the right information in my account. But i did take a screen shot before i did all that.

Grasbak · Jan 2, 2008

Similar Problem

I had a similar issue around christmas time - i tried to buy a song using my account (as I have done many times). iTunes rejected my password - i definatley typed it in right! I reset it to what it was before and then it was ok.

I was worried someone had got into my account but i dont see anything being bought that I didnt so i assume was just a glitch.....

ddan2010 · Feb 3, 2008

Warning To Itunes Users: Important

On Friday there was $1400 missing from my checking account. I checked with my bank and it was ALL from unathorized itunes purchases. There are currently 4 computers authorized on my account; I only authorized 1: the one I'm using now. The deauthorize all computers button that is supposed to be on my account page is NOT THERE. I notifed Apple on Friday when there wire still over 1200 pending downloads. THEY DID NOTHING except tell me they don't do refunds. They didn't even stop the illegal downloads. As we speak, someone is downloading songs from my account (there are 300 left) and I can't do anything about. I changed my password and personal info several times. I did not receive ANY email receipts for itunes credit card transactions. In addition, there are FURTHER pending charges on my account that were racked up after I cancelled my credit card. I WILL NEVER PAY!!!

BlakTornado · Feb 3, 2008

What OS do you both use? Windows, Mac or other?

I checked mine and I don't see a problem and I've not heard anything about this from anyone else.

pondie84 · Feb 3, 2008

ddan2010 said:
On Friday there was $1400 missing from my checking account. I checked with my bank and it was ALL from unathorized itunes purchases. There are currently 4 computers authorized on my account; I only authorized 1: the one I'm using now. The deauthorize all computers button that is supposed to be on my account page is NOT THERE. I notifed Apple on Friday when there wire still over 1200 pending downloads. THEY DID NOTHING except tell me they don't do refunds. They didn't even stop the illegal downloads. As we speak, someone is downloading songs from my account (there are 300 left) and I can't do anything about. I changed my password and personal info several times. I did not receive ANY email receipts for itunes credit card transactions. In addition, there are FURTHER pending charges on my account that were racked up after I cancelled my credit card. I WILL NEVER PAY!!!

That's terrible... I couldn't even imagine downloading $1400 of stuff from itunes!

ddan2010 · Feb 3, 2008

Operating system

My operating system is Mac OSX

QuarterSwede · Feb 3, 2008

Thanks for the heads up. I just pulled my card number. Thanks again and hope you guys get your money back!

Apple Corps · Feb 3, 2008

QuarterSwede said:
Thanks for the heads up. I just pulled my card number. Thanks again and hope you guys get your money back!

Something sounds very fishy with two newbies having such issues. Why would you pull your card? By federal law (in the US) your liability is limited to $50.

I can't help but wonder if we are being played.

LizKat · Feb 3, 2008

Apple Corps said:
Something sounds very fishy with two newbies having such issues. Why would you pull your card? By federal law (in the US) your liability is limited to $50.

I can't help but wonder if we are being played.

yeah, crossed my mind. Tiresome if true. actually worse than tiresome, s/b a ban. fifty lashes and community service.

ddan2010 · Feb 3, 2008

Being played????

I resent that. I don't play people. I haven't posted to a forum in many years and I'm starting to remember why I quit. I figure if it's happening to me it might be happening to someone else and they should be warned. That was my RENT money. It is nice to know that my liability is limited to $50.00. I didn't know that. My bank told me to call the fraud department on Monday. At least you had something useful to say.

Apple Corps · Feb 3, 2008

ddan2010 said:
I resent that. I don't play people. I haven't posted to a forum in many years and I'm starting to remember why I quit. I figure if it's happening to me it might be happening to someone else and they should be warned. That was my RENT money. It is nice to know that my liability is limited to $50.00. I didn't know that. My bank told me to call the fraud department on Monday. At least you had something useful to say.

Sorry you resent it but the story does not ring true to me (an opinion). I've been with Apple for many many years and can not believe they would take such a financial fraud so lightly and respond the way you state - no way.

There is more to the story than we know - IMO

QuarterSwede · Feb 3, 2008

Apple Corps said:
Something sounds very fishy with two newbies having such issues. Why would you pull your card? By federal law (in the US) your liability is limited to $50.

That's STILL $50! I suppose I trust people more than most. I don't know why I trusted Apple with my card in the first place. Is it really THAT hard to input my card number each time I make a purchase? It's worth it for peace of mind. It's not like I'm going to stop using iTS.

ddan2010 · Feb 3, 2008

Apple sent me a detailed message on what to do if I think I have been a victim of identity theft. It included a law enforcement only 800 number for Apple corporate security that I can give to the police if I decide to report the incident. I also spoke with an Apple representative on the phone Saturday morning who gave me the same info by phone. I'm not accusing Apple of taking the situation lightly, but they sure didn't do anything to stop it.

What they didn't do is stop whoever is downloading the files they purchased with my account from downloading them. Friday there were over 1200 songs waiting to be downloaded that were purchased with my account. Right now there are less than 100. I have been watching that number go down all weekend and have not been able to figure out a way to stop them. Who are the other three computers linked to my account? How did they get there? Why didn't Apple stop the downloads? Did they even LOOK at my account? It is it not possible to see WHO has been downloading all these files? Why didn't I get emailed transaction receipts? Maybe they have addresssed these issues and just haven't told me about it, I don't know. What I do know is this incident shows the signs of a professional operation. The money was taken in a series of 38 purchases in the approximate range of $40-55 each.

The purpose of this post was to inform people of the situation. NOT bad mouth Apple. I have been a loyal Apple customer for 25 years-- ever since the Apple II+.

You BET there is something fishy going on here. And I want to know what it is.

Yes, there IS more to this story than we know. Just DON'T accuse me of fraud or making things up. It's not helpful.

Applespider · Feb 4, 2008

Incidentally, the 'deauthorise' button doesn't appear until you have authorised all 5 computers that you are allowed to. So if you can authorise a friend's briefly, then you can deauthorise all of them.

However changing your password should have stopped them anyhow. Very odd.

I do know that a few months back, people were testing stolen CC numbers by using them in iTunes for a single song since people wouldn't generally question such a low amount before going shopping. But that was an instance where they were getting hold of the cc outside iTunes.

ddan2010 · Feb 4, 2008

Brief update

Just a brief update. My bank had me file a report with local law enforcement so there will be an investigation into this matter. Sounds like they will reverse the bad charges on my account, which cools my jets a bit, but whoever stole the money should have to pay, not the bank. Since I started all this I will post updates as I find out more details although it will probably take awhile. And I WILL press charges if they find who did this.

zblaxberg · Feb 4, 2008

iTone said:
Earlier tonight i was trying to connect my sisters account and mine (to add an allowance). I signed in to my iTunes account and it immediately said in a pop up that my information had been recently changed. I clicked ok and it took me to the name/address/phone number page. I noticed that the name, address, and phone number WERE NOT MINE. Ok the address was my previous living address but i moved from that address almost a year ago. The name was not mine and the phone number was a number from Baltimore Maryland, i'm from and live in California! I called the number and voice mail picked up, the man in the message said his name and it matched the name in my account. Did some guy hack my account to try and get free music? Thank god that i didn't have a credit card on file. Otherwise this guy could have done some damage. I took off the credit card a few months ago when i updated my address. Does this happen often? If there somewhere i can call to give iTunes a heads up? I already changed my password and put in the right information in my account. But i did take a screen shot before i did all that.

I'm from baltimore, MD lol but no worries I didn't steal your itunes, I have my own credit card to use for that. I would definitely file a police report if not call applecare.

vandlism · Feb 4, 2008

maybe they are tracking where all of those downloaded songs are going to so they have a good lead on the person who took over your account. i'm hoping that apple takes those songs off of your account so that when the day comes to do a library upgrade to itunes plus, you aren't stuck purchasing the plus version of 1400 songs you never wanted.

ezekielrage_99 · Feb 4, 2008

I had 20 pending downloads in my iTunes that I did not purchase, I rang Apple straight away they told me it could have been a computer glitch in there system OR someone could have downloaded one of my iTunes songs via a P2P network and got my login that way (I don't know how, sorry).

The one thing they did say to me over and over was that to make sure you're not connected to a P2P sharing network or torrents because your login might be accessed via the audio file.

Apple cancelled the orders and refunded the 20 downloads they also got me to reset my detail and password. So I really had no issues but it did freak me a little...

CopperWires · Jul 1, 2008

ddan2010 said:
Apple sent me a detailed message on what to do if I think I have been a victim of identity theft. It included a law enforcement only 800 number for Apple corporate security that I can give to the police if I decide to report the incident. I also spoke with an Apple representative on the phone Saturday morning who gave me the same info by phone. I'm not accusing Apple of taking the situation lightly, but they sure didn't do anything to stop it.

What they didn't do is stop whoever is downloading the files they purchased with my account from downloading them. Friday there were over 1200 songs waiting to be downloaded that were purchased with my account. Right now there are less than 100. I have been watching that number go down all weekend and have not been able to figure out a way to stop them. Who are the other three computers linked to my account? How did they get there? Why didn't Apple stop the downloads? Did they even LOOK at my account? It is it not possible to see WHO has been downloading all these files? Why didn't I get emailed transaction receipts? Maybe they have addresssed these issues and just haven't told me about it, I don't know. What I do know is this incident shows the signs of a professional operation. The money was taken in a series of 38 purchases in the approximate range of $40-55 each.

The purpose of this post was to inform people of the situation. NOT bad mouth Apple. I have been a loyal Apple customer for 25 years-- ever since the Apple II+.

You BET there is something fishy going on here. And I want to know what it is.

Yes, there IS more to this story than we know. Just DON'T accuse me of fraud or making things up. It's not helpful.

Sorry to bring up an old thread but I just found this website after doing some research. Almost the exact same thing just happened to me. I had 42 transactions using paypal for the amounts of $42.75 up to $48.53. Paypal has denied my fraud claim twice, Apple won't talk to me about it and my credit card investigation is pending. My last line of defense is that the credit card company will get to the bottom of it. I have no faith in the local law enforcement.

I had no access to my itunes account after I found the charges. I contacted iTunes and closed my account. My bank and cc company were able to stop payment before it left my account but now paypal says I owe them $950. An iTunes rep gave me the phone number to Apple Corp. Security to give to the CC company and Paypal. I also gave Paypal the CC investigator's number. I talked to Paypal last night at 9:30 pm about the investigation and they hadn't even touched it yet. Then this morning at 7:00 am they had already denied it. I am almost positive that they didn't try to call the CC company or Apple. How can I get to the bottom of this? ddan2010, what were the steps you took to correct this?

ddan2010 · Jul 1, 2008

Follow up

Well, I'm sorry to hear this happened to someone else. I'm sure it's happened to other people that we don't know about also. Never heard back from Apple as to how this happened, my bank told me early on that they would probably never catch those responsible, and I never heard anything from the police.

My Itunes account has been unusable since the incident because a charge for about $40.00 (funny how the charges are all in the $40.00 range-- I wonder if there's a reason for that) still remains on the account that was caught in between when I canceled my credit card and when the theft was taking place. Apple REFUSES to remove it and I refuse to pay it. I say go after the people that stole the product, invaded my privacy, and wasted a LOT of my time (and gas) dealing with the paperwork to get the criminal report filed with the police and the charges removed from my bank card. Find the criminals and make THEM pay.

I have since decided to replace my four year old Powerbook with a regular laptop PC, canceled my Iphone purchase and have learned to live just fine without Itunes, even though I was one of the first customers way back when. Considering the thousands and thousands of dollars I've spent on Apple over the years, they really should own up to the fact that they got hacked somehow and reimburse the HONEST customers any money they have lost in this mess. Again, I wonder how many other people have been through this.

I would check to see if the federal fraud laws will cover your $950.00, because that is your only hope in this situation. Sorry I don't have better news.

--Dan

heatmiser · Jul 1, 2008

^ Apple rarely owns up to things. They have little reason to when so many people are willing to side with them, a corporation, rather than with fellow human beings.

The best way to make your displeasure heard is to vote with your wallet. You did the right thing.

Chandler Adaway · Jul 2, 2008

I know this may be a no-brainer question, ddan2010, but do you recommend taking my CC off of my iTunes?

Also, did you have an obvious password at the time?

This is literally making me shake with fear, as I have my moms card in my account and would never forgive myself if that happened to me.

heatmiser · Jul 2, 2008

Chandler Adaway said:
I know this may be a no-brainer question, ddan2010, but do you recommend taking my CC off of my iTunes?

I'm not Dan, but yes, you should. The policy is to deduct first and ask questions later. Ounce of prevention, pound of cure. Better safe than sorry. Those sayings exist for a reason, and seem particularly apt when it comes to dealing with money.

This is literally making me shake with fear, as I have my moms card in my account and would never forgive myself if that happened to me.

I'd disconnect my card if I were you. It's bad enough when this happens with your money. It's even worse when it happens with someone else's. Twice the guilt, twice the responsibility.

Chandler Adaway · Jul 2, 2008

heatmiser said:
I'm not Dan, but yes, you should. The policy is to deduct first and ask questions later. Ounce of prevention, pound of cure. Better safe than sorry. Those sayings exist for a reason, and seem particularly apt when it comes to dealing with money.

I'd disconnect my card if I were you. It's bad enough when this happens with your money. It's even worse when it happens with someone else's. Twice the guilt, twice the responsibility.

Okay, I took it off.
The thought of that happening to me is not worth having the card on there.
Especially with the money my mom has in her account...
They could have gone away with 30k+ if they wanted to.
And it was her debit card, not credit!

Luckily though, even when she buys an expensive purse or something, our credit union will put a hold on our account and not let any purchases happen.
But it would have been to late with just 99cents a song and what not.

Wow.
I wish I would have known this was possible earlier.

CopperWires · Jul 2, 2008

ddan2010, So I take it that Apple didn't help you out? That is really discouraging. There are 2 problems preventing this from being OK. #1, Apple needs to agree that they got hacked. #2 Paypal is coming after me for the balance!!! Because I "preapproved" iTunes to complete the transaction, Paypal won't look into it any further. So I guess I'll take a hit on my credit. I will never pay that. It's not my fault that someone racked up these charges. If iTunes is going to have a system that requires payment info, even if I never downloaded anything other than free podcasts, they need to have inpenetrable security.

I think my iTunes account was hacked?

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