Apple customers hit by fraudulent purchases on their iTunes accounts
One victim had over $4,400 deducted from her bank in iTunes purchases
Some Apple customers have complained of fraudulent purchases made on their iTunes accounts, causing deductions of thousands of dollars.
An Apple spokesman yesterday would not comment on the extent of the problem, but said the company is looking into it.
Channel NewsAsia reported yesterday that "dozens" were affected, including those at OCBC Bank.
Ms Chen Yi Ling, 25, who works in communications, told The Straits Times that she had not used Apple's services or products for at least five years.
However, she had more than $4,400 deducted in 27 transactions of $163.43 from her DBS Bank account on July 11.
An Apple customer service officer told her there had indeed not been any transactions on her Apple account, but her debit card had been used by a fraudulent iTunes account.
Apple terminated that account, and DBS refunded 20 of the 27 transactions for Ms Chen last Thursday.
In a Facebook comment, user Patricia Choy said she had more than $7,000 taken from her DBS account in 45 transactions.
A DBS spokesman said yesterday customers reporting unauthorised iTunes transactions will receive temporary credit while it investigates.
"We also constantly monitor credit/debit card transactions in real time for any suspicious activities... We urge customers to call us immediately at 1800 111 1111 if they notice suspicious or unusual activity..."
Ms Choo Wan Sim, head of cards and payments at United Overseas Bank, said it had increased monitoring of all iTunes transactions last week.
Customers were called when fraudulent transactions were suspected or had their accounts temporarily blocked if they could not be reached.
"For any confirmed fraudulent transaction, we helped our customer to claim a refund. We also issued them a new card as an additional security measure."
The Apple spokesman said customers can report problems with their iTunes purchases at support.apple.com/en-sg/HT204084
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