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iPhone App Store scammers hack accounts, buy their own apps with your money
Some apps take the scam a step further: they sell for free, and then steal your money with in-app purchases (beware of an app called World War). To make sure you haven't been hacked, check your purchase history in iTunes for suspicious activity. As a precaution, it also doesn't hurt to change your account password and remove any saved credit card info. If you've already been scammed, call Apple and your bank and try to stop the purchases from clearing.
If you need more info, TheNextWeb has details on a few of the specific app farms, as well as a good overview of the scam.
UPDATE: Here's a statement from Storm8, one of the companies on TheNextWeb's app farm list.
Looks like there may have been some exaggeration on TheNextWeb's part in this company's case, but it's still a good idea to be careful of in-app purchases. Also, it still seems sketchy to have so many identical apps, just with different point totals (and different prices) attached.Most of our games have been on the App Store for over a year. Our games are free to download and play. Like many apps from iTunes, we offer certain virtual goods (like Honor Points) for sale through In-App Purchase. They are an optional part of the game, and serve to enhance various aspects of user experience and game play. In no case do users have to buy points to use our free applications.
Comments
6
Subscribe to commentsAemonyJul 5th 2010 8:17AM
I though Apple chose a closed app store just to prevent this kind of thing, but from what TheNextWeb states this seems to be a pretty widespread problem...
stinlen56Jul 5th 2010 8:22AM
so much for a walled garden
kimmJul 5th 2010 11:44AM
Well I can't check my purchase history because it says my account has been disabled for security reasons .. uuugh! Now what?
Storm8Jul 5th 2010 11:40PM
We (Storm8, the developer of World War) have replied to the post from TheNextWeb which you quoted in this post. We do not hack into anyone's account and we do not use anyone's account to make purchases. If you have more questions, please email support@storm8.com.
EricJul 6th 2010 9:34AM
On the upside, at least when your iTunes account gets stolen you can be sure you won't be forced to buy icky porn or (gasp) Flash content.
jay3349Jul 6th 2010 5:06PM
I'm an avid Storm8 user and am seeing a quick rising trend of hacked accounts. These are players with low experience points but massive capabilities that take months and many dollars to earn. Storm8 says they'll crack down on hackers. So they they admit people are actually compromising their system. Run away!