An app farm infestation is being battled by Apple App Store users. The App Store is being hacked by Apple App scammers who hack iTunes accounts to make purchases of some bogus apps. The hack will go and steal money from iTunes accounts and improve the App Store rankings of the bogus apps.
App store cover was uncovered because of greedy scammer
. Nguyen got too greedy and 40 of his apps in the books category showed up within the top 50 App Store rankings. Other app developers knew something was wrong and Apple pulled the Thuat Nguyen apps. Thousands of dollars have been stolen by Nguyen and other App Store scammers, who are nevertheless active.
Compromised were the rankings of the app store
News about the App Store scam broke when thenextweb.com reported that Thuat Nguyen hacked iTunes accounts and purchased many of his own apps using those accounts. When their popular titles were displaced within the App Store rankings by Nguyen apps, two app developers sent the alarm. . On their accounts, many had spent between $ 100 and $ 1400. All iTunes users should check their accounts for stealth purchases of cheap apps (around $ 1-$ 3) followed by one at an outrageous price (around $ 90 ). Thenextweb.com said hackers are also signing users up for a free app called World War that sends their money to scammer accounts.
From app store scam, protect yourself
To verify that you have or haven’t become a victim of the App Store scam, it’s easy to check the security of your own iTunes account.
PCWorld gives this procedure:
Click on your account name on the right hand side of the iTunes menu bar. After entering your password, click on the View Account button. You’ll be taken to the Apple Account Information page where you’re able to view your purchase history. From there, you can make sure that all your app purchases are ones that you’ve made. If you spot an app you didn’t buy among your recent purchases, click the Report a Problem button. To safeguard against a compromised password, you are able to click on Edit Account Info to change it. Longer passwords containing numbers and special characters are harder for hackers to crack.
App farm is still scamming
The Apple App Store scam hasn’t been eliminated with the purging of the Thuat Nguyen apps. Beranews.com explains that two other developers at least are using similar practices. Charismaist is somebody you should keep away from 3 apps from. One Charismaist app is a sonic mosquito repellent that has scammed users out of as much as $ 100, although it is marked as free. Storm 8’s App Store scam uses in-game point purchases costing as much as $ 150. One iTunes user said there were up to $ 1,400 in bogus charges from a Storm 8 game. within the App store is Charismaist and Storm 8.
More app store scam details
The Apple App Store scam is used to make bogus purchases that elevate the apps in the iTunes ranking so users could be attracted to the apps based on their high sales. Look out for app icons with low res images that come from the web. The scammers’ sites direct users to non-existent web sites or landing pages. According to the Next Web, all the bogus apps are owned by unknown, Asia-based developers. It is believed the App Store scam has been happening over the last four weeks.
Discover more about this topic here:
thenextweb.com
thenextweb.com/apple/2010/07/04/app-store-hacked/comment-page-1/#comment-11929
PC World
pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/200503/apps_disappear_from_app_store_amid_hacking_complaints.html
betanews.com
betanews.com/article/Apple-still-silent-as-more-scams-are-found-on-App-Store/1278363193
