An app farm infestation is being battled by Apple App Store users. The App Store is being hacked by Apple App scammers who hack private iTunes accounts to purchase bogus apps. The hacks steal money from iTunes accounts and boost the App Store rankings of these apps.
Source of article: Scammers use Apple App Store hack to steal money, boost rankings by Personal Money Store
Greedy scammers blow up the App store cover
The App Store scam may have gone undetected longer if not for a thieving app farm developer known as Thuat Nguyen. Nguyen got too greedy and 40 of his apps within the books category showed up in the top 50 App Store rankings. Other app developers knew something was wrong and Apple pulled the Thuat Nguyen apps. Thousands of dollars are stolen by Nguyen and other App Store scammers, who are nevertheless active.
App store rankings are compromised
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 iPhone app developers sent the alarm. Many iTunes accounts were hacked to buy apps. Some iTunes users had between $ 100 and $ 1400 spent on their accounts. 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 ). It was reported by Thenextweb.com that 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’ve or have not become a victim of the App Store scam, it’s easy to check the security of your own iTunes account.
This is the procedure done by PCWorld:
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 Info 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 purchase among your recent purchases, click the Report a Problem button. To safeguard against a compromised password, you can click on Edit Account Info to change it. Longer passwords containing numbers and special characters are harder for hackers to crack.
App farm is nevertheless scamming
The Apple App store scam isn't done yet. Beranews.com explains that two other developers at least are using similar practices. Stay from 3 apps by Charismaist. One Charismaist app is a sonic mosquito repellent that has scammed users out of as much as $ 100, despite the fact that it is marked as free. Storm 8’s App Store scam has in-game point purchases costing as much as $ 150. One iTunes user reported about $ 1,400 in bogus charges from a Storm 8 game. Both Charismaist and Storm 8 are nevertheless present within the App Store.
More app store scam details
The Apple App Store scam is used primarily make bogus purchases that elevate the apps in the iTunes ranking so users will 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’ websites direct users to non-existent websites or landing pages. The Next Web explained that all the bogus apps are owned by unknown, Asia-based developers. Evidently the scam has been happening over the last four weeks.
Discover more data:
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
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