Hacked accounts and fraudulent purchases are leaving iTunes users singing a sad song — again.
Crafty computer criminals are compromising users’ iTunes accounts and purchasing hundreds of dollars worth of music, apps, gift cards, ringtones and games, the security firm Kaspersky Lab reported.
The hacks, discussed in detail in an Apple Discussions blog and an "iTunes Account Hacked!" Facebook page, all share similar characteristics: The assailants gain access to the victims’ credit card information, modify the billing address and use the stolen info to make the fraudulent purchases.
“Another victim! My iTunes was drained of $29.98 on 3/25/11 at midnight,” wrote coupster7 on the Apple blog. “They also changed my billing address city/state to Towson, Md. Reported to apple.”
Unfortunately for users of the ubiquitous music platform, the iTunes hacks have been occurring since early 2010. Unlike coupster7, some attacks do serious damage to victims’ wallets.
On the Facebook page where consumers air hacking grievances, iTunes customer Jeff Tarsha wrote in May 2010, “Just happened to me. $200 out of bank account for stupid items. I think it was iTunes screw up thought because it happened right after placing an order for $1.99 cent song. I think it got messed up with somebody else’s order, but iTunes could care less and instantly blames me for not protecting my data. WTF?”
Hackers have long sought out iTunes as a target because of its popularity and the sensitive banking information users keep stored in their accounts.
Apple has yet to release a public statement about the compromised iTunes accounts. They did not return a call for comment.