A couple of days ago we reported that the Apple App Store may have been hacked, with many user accounts being forced to spend hundreds on apps from a certain developer. Over the weekend, several questionable looking apps created by developer Thuat Nguyen in the "Book" category of the App Store were launched into 42 of the 50 spots in the top selling apps of that category. At the same time, many users saw that their accounts had been hacked, showing purchases sometimes ranging in the hundreds of dollars. Today Apple has finally spoken out about the whole situation, being careful not to come straight out and said that fraud had occurred. Apple's response to the situation can be seen below:
The developer Thuat Nguyen and his apps were removed from the App Store for violating the developer Program License Agreement, including fraudulent purchase patterns.
Developers do not receive any iTunes confidential customer data when an app is downloaded.
If your credit card or iTunes password is stolen and used on iTunes we recommend that you contact your financial institution and inquire about canceling the card and issuing a chargeback for any unauthorized transactions. We also recommend that you change your iTunes account password immediately. For more information on best practices for password security visit http://www.apple.com/support/itunes.
It is somewhat disconcerting to hear about iTunes accounts being hacked, but at least Apple responded by removing the developer and products from its store. Even after Apple's statement, though, we're left to wonder who is to blame for the account hacks. Some reports have been showing up that users at the infamous 4chan were to blame, but nothing was confirmed. The one thing we do know, however, is that you should check your iTunes account as well as any attached bank accounts to make sure that your information wasn't stolen. Were any of your iTunes accounts hacked into over the weekend?
Via Engadget
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