AntiHubris.com

Users of Apple’s app store are battling an app farm infestation. The App Store is being hacked by Apple App scammers who hack iTunes accounts to make purchases of some bogus apps. The hacks steal money from iTunes accounts and boost the App Store rankings of these apps.

Article source: Scammers use Apple App Store hack to steal money, boost rankings by Personal Money Store

Some of the greedy scammers blew 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 with his app farms and 40 of his apps within 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.

App store rankings are compromised

News about the App Store scam broke when thenextweb.com reported that Thuat Nguyen hacked iTunes accounts and purchased his own apps using those accounts. When their popular titles were displaced within the App Store rankings by Nguyen apps, two iPhone app developers sounded the alarm. Many iTunes accounts were hacked to purchase apps. On their accounts, many had spent between $ 100 and $ 1400. All iTunes users should check their accounts for stealth purchases of cheap apps ($ 1-$ 3) followed by one at an outrageous price ($ 90 ). Thenextweb.com said hackers are also signing users up for a free app called World War that sends their money to scammer accounts.

Find a way to protect yourself from App store scam

To verify that you have or have not become a victim of the App Store scam, it is 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 Info page where you are able to view your purchase history. From there, you are able to 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 can click on Edit Account Info to change it. Longer passwords containing numbers and special characters are harder for hackers to crack.

App farms continue to scam

The Apple App Store scam has yet to be eliminated. At least two other scammers are using similar practices according to Betanews.com. Stay from 3 apps by Charismaist. One Charismaist app is an apparent sonic mosquito repellent that has scammed users out of $ 100 at one of the most, 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 said there were up to $ 1,400 in bogus charges from a Storm 8 game. Charismaist and Storm 8 are both nevertheless within the App store.

More of the app store scam information

The Apple App Store scam is used to make bogus purchases that elevate the apps within the iTunes ranking so users could be attracted to the apps depending on their high sales. Look out of low res images from the web. The scammers' support links 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. Over the last four weeks, the app scam has been happening.

Citations:

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