[Update 17Jan2018] - Wow. To think that 8 years later, this scam is still going on as I'm still getting the odd notifications every now and then with comments on this post.
TLDR: If you guys stumble upon this random site because of the APL*ITUNES 866-71-2-7753 charge on your credit/debit card, call your bank immediately and report it as a fraud.
If you have an iTunes account and have any bank cards associated with it, you might wanna beware. I normally check my bank accounts every now and then just to be sure that there's nothing fishy going on in there and of course at the same time, just like many of you
*secretly* hoping that someone might accidentally transfer $1 million to my account as well. I've had a few cases of credit card frauds happening and so far, banks have been very cooperative with disputing transactions and issuing me a new card
(especially my local bank, SCB Brunei. Well done!).
So today, i checked one of my overseas bank account and found out that i've been charged over
USD $200 for some random iTunes purchases. Initially, i thought maybe iTunes have accidentally charged me for some of the stuffs i've been downloading but upon cross referencing with my iTunes receipt, there are discrepancies with the dates and the amount because they're all...free. Well, i
am Asian by blood so i don't really like to spend money of something that intangible. That's like throwing away money for me. :P
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| My most recent iTunes "purchases" |
I don't think i will spend $10 on a CD that i personally cannot feel/touch unless the music industry decided to go completely digital. My first reaction upon seeing my bank records was to report this immediately to the bank but due to time differences, i have to wait till 9 am local time to get in touch with a representative. Meanwhile, what i did next was to...well, google. After reading a few
articles posted online, it seems that there have been numerous reports of the same fraud cases that i'm currently facing. Some were even more unlucky where they've been charged over $1000! And of course, there's heated argument on who's side is to be blamed. If you read more on the comments, majority of them are pointing fingers at
Apple cause they are not taking any responsibilities about it. As much as i want to hop in the
anti-Apple bandwagon, it is hard to put the blame on them because this logically speaking, it has nothing to do with them...at least in my case.
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| Something's shady going on around here... |
If in the event that my iTunes account have been hacked and there has been stuffs downloaded, then sure i'll blame Apple for this. Since my account preferred method of payment is linked to Paypal, i've also checked my Paypal account to check if there has been any transactions made through it and fortunately, there wasn't. So this pretty much leads back to only one way of how this can be done. The fraudster somehow got my credit card details. This of course is unavoidable especially when almost everything now has to be done online so chances are he might have picked up my card details and
possibly yours online especially if you enjoy doing e-shopping. I did however, discover one thing about Apple in the midst of all this little 'investigation'. For a company that is really known worldwide, it is relatively confusing to find any link to report this matter or even a direct number specifically for this issue. Majority of the links and numbers are either for Apple technical issues, software helps, warranty stuffs but nothing on frauds or customer service.
This pretty much triggered all the anger for some of Apple unhappy customers whose iTunes unfortunately have been hacked. Majority of them complained that Apple are not giving much crap about them and asked them to sort it out with their banks or with Paypal. I personally think Apple should increase security measure with their iTunes especially when cases like these can't exactly be tracked. For now, i just gotta wait till i speak with my bank to see what can be done to resolve. If they reject my claim to dispute the transaction then...i might try my luck in email good ol' Stevey!
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| "We're not perfect." |
Hmm...maybe if those who are affected by this start some petition and file complaints to him, his next conference he might just open up with another smart quote...
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| Mehehehe... |
But on a serious note, i do advise if you guys have credit card, try not to save any information online. If you use iTunes as well, set the payment method to none. It may be tedious whenever you want to make a purchase but hey, it's definitely so much more tedious going through the process of filing a dispute claim and dealing with all the banking procedures.
Comments
http://www.apple.com/support/itunes/contact.html
It is only for $1 and isn't until 2 more days. Should I be worried?
Request Letter for a Bank Statement
make sure a partner or friend didnt use your card prior to calling the bank. may save you some embarrasment.
Yet, APL* ITUNES.COM/BILL 866-712-7753 CA charged my credit card $0.99 over a month ago and after disputing that and speaking to an agent I received a credit and was advised I did not need to change my account number. Last night at midnight I received a Fraud Warning email showing APL* ITUNES.COM/BILL 866-712-7753 CA charged the same card $99.99. I called the credit card fraud department number provided immediately and was told my card would now be changed and a new one issued and the charges reversed after investigation.
It boggles the mind that these is so much disinformation and so little information about this scam considering the date of my post, April 22, 2016, and the date this article was written, September 30, 2010.
I am parmeshwar sain HP I am the card holder ending digit 8889. This company make false payment by five times by my card was on same day 4/11/2017 of Rs.800, Rs.1600 Rs.1600. It am very shocked to see this that's why today I blocked my card. Please check this type of matter immediately. Please refund the money as soon as possible. Thanks for the advance support.
Guess nothing is being done to this date to stop this pest!
$27.86 labeled with the famous description, "APL* ITUNES.COM/BILL 866-712-7753 CA XXXXXXXXXXXX####"
I went to my iTunes subscriptions and I have pending purchases. One being a movie I purchased from iTunes a week and a half ago for $21.44 and an app for $6.42 totaling $27.86. I checked my bank account transactions from a week and a half ago and did not see the movie charge come out of my account yet. So, this makes me think that this is not a scam seeing as the total amount of $27.86 if the exact amount for the movie and app together.
I did check my bank account for my monthly subscriptions that I know that I am paying for and they are labeled, "APL* ITUNES.COM/BILL." This makes me think that the charge for $27.86 should have been labeled the same way, WITHOUT the 866 number that everyone is reporting as a scam number.
When I Google the 866-712-7753 CA number every post I see refers to this as being a scam. I don't know if I am being hacked or not.
Any suggestions, comments, or advice other than obviously calling the bank.
8 charges total on a bill that was received slated for my grandfather that were charged in April or May.
Funny thing, my grandfather passed away Jan 2017 so over a year ago. He didn’t have an iTunes account, and he didn’t do online shopping with this card. Considering these charges started a month ago, and he has been gone for a year and a half, this has to be a credit card account leak from the credit card company itself. I don’t know how else this would have happened. It was on a Best Buy citi card.
Next steps I told her to do is to go to her local bank branch (better to present in person since it's been happening for years), dispute the fraudulent charges to try to recoup the money that was stolen, cancel the card, and have her start checking her statements monthly for anything suspicious.
Pro tip: Never call the number listed on your credit card statement unless you confirm that it's valid. If she knew to check, she wouldn't have gotten scammed further :(
$50 over 2 months. Apple kept me on hold a long time but finding no apple charges corresponding to these items confirmed it was fraudlent, and then i called Chase who were prompt in removing these , and are sending new card. Dang russians.