Random Apple Pay Charges Affecting iPhone Users in Hungary

[MacRumors]

Apple Pay is malfunctioning in Hungary, according to reports from several Hungarian news sites. Apple device owners are seeing surprise, unexpected charges without making purchases.

Some users are seeing multiple mistaken transactions, and it is a problem that appears to be affecting most banks in Hungary. Impacted users are being charged small amounts several times in a row. One user saw almost $1,500 USD pulled from his account across 74 rapid fire transactions.

Hungarian news sites say that banks are being slammed with requests for help, and that it appears to be a problem on Apple's end. OTP Bank in Hungary said that "massive, unjustified debits" were made to cards at several banks, with the situation still being analyzed to determine what happened. A statement on Raiffeisen Bank's website says that Apple is working to resolve the problem.

We inform our customers that due to a technical problem with an external partner, the bank cards of some of our customers may have been incorrectly charged by the Apple App Store. Our colleagues have contacted Apple officials, the problem is being resolved.

Some of the charges appear to be linked to subscriptions that were canceled previously, and some of the amounts match prior transactions. Some customers have been able to have their banks block their cards, preventing further charges.

(Thanks, Lorinc!)

Article Link: Random Apple Pay Charges Affecting iPhone Users in Hungary

 

[Apple_Robert]

This is very bad For the affected users. Hopefully, the cause is found quickly and rectified.

 

[No5tromo]

thank god 3rd party payments are locked for the sake of reliability

 

[GrayFlannel]

One user saw almost $1,500 USD pulled from his account across 74 rapid fire transactions.

It’s always good practice to test for the end condition to get out of the loop. 😬

 

[Mveight]

Hungary has a population of 10 million, and Apple's marketshare there is 16%. So this affects a pretty small number of people.

Super helpful take

 

[jrlcopy]

Perhaps it was connected to all our fav websites including MacRumors, Slickdeals being down for a few hours today.

The offline banner was being served for a few hours.

Verizon customers have having issues internationally too:

https://www.reddit.com/r/verizon/comments/1dp4abk

 

[2540497]

nah sorry, this is totally and utterly unacceptable. Sure they will get their money back but how on earth have Apple allowed something like this to happen? staggering!

 

[vicviper789]

Looks like Apple Pay Later is being replaced with Apple Pay Now

 

[contacos]

But we can only trust Apple with our data!

 

[macfacts]

Didn't even need alternative app stores for this to happen.🧐

 

[ScubaLibre]

I can confirm that it was/is happening. My card was also charged for an amount that was exactly the same as the last price for a subscription that I cancelled in 2023. Since then, this card is not even registered as a payment method.
By the way, the card is not from a Hungarian bank, so the problem is present for Apple users in Hungary, not for Hungarian banks.
The transaction is not in my Apple purchase history, so I can't file a complain.

 

[Reason077]

Looks like Apple Pay Later is being replaced with Apple Pay Now

Or Apple Pay Again (and again, and again…)

 

[now i see it]

Not surprised. It’s  software after all.What would be more shocking is if everything always worked perfectly

 

[Yrmmont]

Tim Cook wants your money so he took it.

 

[Haiku_Oezu]

Ouch
I mean I’m sure everyone will get their money back but what a pain in the ass

How is Apple Pay involved exactly? Isn’t Apple Pay only invoked through direct action?
Sounds more like a backend/App Store issue

 

[russell_314]

It makes me wonder if this is an error or has someone found an exploit. A few dollars for millions of people is a lot of money.

 

[davide_eu]

The transaction is not in my Apple purchase history, so I can't file a complain.

That's very bad: it means that the engine behind transactions "is not safe". A charge can be done without adding an entry in the history...

 

[davide_eu]

It makes me wonder if this is an error or has someone found an exploit. A few dollars for millions of people is a lot of money.

You know, you'll never know...

 

[davide_eu]

Apple Pay is malfunctioning in Hungary, according to reports from several Hungarian news sites. Apple device owners are seeing surprise, unexpected charges without making purchases.

Now, imagine the same post replacing "Apple Pay" with "Google Pay"... MacRumors down due to the high number of comments about "ahah it isn't safe as..." or "you want Android, you deserve it..."

 

[swm]

anything that uses Apple Pay as payment for a digital subscription service will show up in the bank statement as if apple would've taken the money. this seems to be a usual card fraud scheme, that happens every day - but card issuers usually have a fraud detection system in place which reacts to anomalies in card usage.

 

[Riovfo]

Perhaps it was connected to all our fav websites including MacRumors, Slickdeals being down for a few hours today.

The offline banner was being served for a few hours.

Verizon customers have having issues internationally too:

https://www.reddit.com/r/verizon/comments/1dp4abk

Its probably not carrier related.
Im in central EU with an EU carrier and had the same outage on macrumors.
Might be an issue with whoever hosting this website (AWS?)

 

[spaxxedout]

I’m also the victim of random Apple Pay charges. Sure, they’re for irresponsible things I’ve bought with my Apple Card, but that doesn’t preclude them from ruining my life.

 

[coolfactor]

Ouch
I mean I’m sure everyone will get their money back but what a pain in the ass

How is Apple Pay involved exactly? Isn’t Apple Pay only invoked through direct action?
Sounds more like a backend/App Store issue

Exactly! Is there proof that "Apple Pay" is involved, or is misinformation spreading across news sites?

Apple Pay requires device authentication.

This sounds more like App Store payment systems malfunctioning, possibly with a 3rd party involved.

 

[Art Mark]

The Hungarian mob needs to find new ways to make money...East era Europe loves a good fraud.

 

[Xiaojohn]

I am not worries if it is Apple faults, Apple can refund quickly.

I am worries if it is from banks, and it takes forever to get the refund.