There’s no technology that’s 100% safe from fraud or social engineering. Those are predators that walk the cyber landscape, and just like hunter gatherers had to watch out for saber-toothed tigers and dire wolves, modern consumers have to keep an eye out for scammers and spammers.
So, it comes as little surprise that Fox New York (via Consumerist) reports iTunes is among the many attack vectors Bad Guys use when committing their fraud.
The crux of this one is bogus charges on your credit card, from $1 to full on $50+ gift card purchases:
Over on GetSatisfaction, there’s a long thread about fraudulent iTunes charges, but no clear answer about what’s going on. In fact, some people seem to be getting hit with charges on their credit cards from a fake APL*ITUNES business even if they don’t have iTunes accounts, while others who do have iTunes accounts receive receipts via email for real gift card purchases that they didn’t make.
So stay informed, check your accounts and your credit card charges, and report anything fishy (or phishy).
While in the old days, this would no doubt have come from Creep McShady in a trench coat around the corner of some noir-esque alley, now its online fraudsters who’ve gamed Apple’s iTunes gift certificate generation algorithms, unable to sell directly due to fear of Apple tracing the accounts, who’ve found a new target for their schemes. Says Apple Insider:
Third party iPhone App Store developers have received propositions from a scammer offering to buy large volumes of their iPhone applications and then split the resulting revenue with them, apparently using fraudulent iTunes gift certificates to make the purchases.
Of course, the developers faces every bit as much chance for retaliation from Apple, perhaps more so because this could end their careers as iPhone developers.
Yeah. Not a good idea.
September was the last time we saw some malicious attacks on MobileMe subscribers. Well the scammers are at it again, trying to take advantage of Apple’s MobileMe subscribers. A Gizmodo reader claims to have gotten the email shown above.
If you then click the fake “Login” button you will be directed to a website the scammers have set up — to look like Apple’s web site — asking for your credit card information. It is safe to say, delete this email if you happen to find it in your inbox.
[Via Gizmodo]
