iTunes users have reported widespread unauthorised purchases from their App Store accounts, leading many to surmise the online store have been hacked.
Yesterday, a developer named Thuat Nguyen suddenly held 42 of the top 50 best sellers in the App Store’s books section.
Apple has yet to confirm a security breach, but it seems that Thuat was using hacked iTunes accounts to buy their own apps. Apple has since closed the developer’s account an removed the apps and has told affected users to change their passwords.
The thefts appear to have started about a month ago.
“There’s been a rash of these kinds of issues. I got hit a couple weeks ago and last night my wife got hit. Apple has a real problem here.” said iTunes user sundog61 on 22 June.
“I was hacked too,” said scouncil1 over the weekend. “$140 in purchases. I removed my credit card info but see the hackers still managed to download some free apps tonight. I just changed my user name and password too.”
The Next Web reports that hacked accounts have been used to spend as much as $1,400 and suggests that other developers may also be involved, including one whose World War app uses in-app purchases to “effectively send money to the app developer’s accounts”.
Anyone with an iTunes (Apple ID) account should check recent purchases via the Store»View My Account menu in the iTunes application and contact Apple and the relevant credit card company if there are any illicit purchases.
