iTunes hacked...course of action?

[Cimmerian33]

Woke up on this fine Memorial Day holiday to the tune of 7 emails from my PayPal account that I had authorized transactions to the iTunes store for 7 deifferent transactions between $40-$50 each, so they total between $300-$350. After some investigating, all of the transactions were made for Asian Music, Video Games, Skype, etc, and the date of the purchase is 7-8 hours in the future (can only assume time difference from here to Asia, I know it's not ACTUALLY in the future :)) 

So I have called Apple, but they are closed for the holiday. I did have my PayPal account linked to iTunes, but have never had any problems with my iTunes acccount being hacked before. So they won't be able to do anything until tomorrow at the earliest. Can I dispute the claims through Paypal? I have already cancelled my PayPal link to iTunes.

And even though it has nothing to do with this, some dude hit my car Saturday at an intersection because he didn't want to stop for an ambulance. Relevant? No. Just letting everyone know the kind of week I'm having!

[surplusdealdude]

Are you sure the emails are legit?  A favourite scam in Paypal is to send a notification that the person is the successful bidder of something they never bought.   Sounds like they might have moved to itunes.

Log in to your itunes account FROM YOUR BROWSER and make sure the purchases really took place.

Also check your Paypal and credit card and bank accounts to see where they were paid from - if there's no payment, there was no purchase, most likely.

Sorry about the car.  If it makes you feel any better, your not the only one having a bad weekend - it's been SNOWING in Calgary, Alberta, Canada for 2 days now.

[Cimmerian33]

Nope, they are real transactions. The emails were receipts like any other from paypal. Nothing asking me to log in or anything like that. The debits from my bank account appear on my paypal homepage, and on my itunes page, there are all of these orders in my purchase history that took a little while to find. It is all Asian music I have never heard of.

I contacted iTunes to start there, and all of my account info has now been changed so it can't happen again, but they basically said I have to file a claim with paypal or my bank account. My question is, my bank has already said they can reverse the charges on fraud. What happens then? If I do it from my bank's side, is Paypal still going to come after me for those funds? How does paypal know it was a fraudulent order? Or do I just dispute the claims through paypal, and hope that after 7-10 days or however long it takes, that they side with me?

Please help

Bryan

[surplusdealdude]

I'd have the bank reverse the charges.  If Paypal wants to get upset, let them get upset.

I could see Paypal flagging your account and holding payments for a while to make sure they're real, but they'll get over it eventually.

[kkonfish]

Same thing happened to me yesterday for the tune of $400 on 10 different charges.  Did you get your money back?

[Cimmerian33]

I did. Paypal got my money back just by me filing disputes for each of the transactions. Of course, iTunes will diable your account, but you should be able to fix that. iTunes fraud dept. recommended me to simply use gift cards for purchases instead of having a cc on file.

[kkonfish]

Thanks for the reply.  It is just unreal that iTune let's its user charge $400 worth of stuff in one day w/o some sort of safe guard for the users.  I spent about $10 over the course of 6 months in apps since I got my iTouch for gift in Christmas. 

[Cimmerian33]

I think you can actually set a limit under your iTunes settings, the default is something ridiculous like 2500 bucks daily or something, but I never knew about it until after I had this happen. Funny thing is that I'm guessing if someone hacked your acct, they could just change the setting but...I guess it's something.

[Fifiwest]

And PayPal defines itself as the "safest way to pay." I do not know if I believe that anymore. I was just taken for $124 I hope I caught it all and no more charges occur. I cancelled my billing agreement, removed my accounts from itunes account, and removed most of my accounts from paypal payment. I even called my bank, but I cannot do anything until they actually are "out" of my account.

I opened 4 unauthorized transaction disputes and I hope that I hear back soon if I get my money back because this will overdraw my account!! :(( UGG

[dawashel]

yea I had the same exact thing happen to me today... seems like they really stole because i checked my bank accounts and i have preauths from paypal.... mine totals around 800$. I put disputes for all of them in paypal but i dont know if thats the right process...I ended up freezing one account and canceling two debit cars. I also contacted itunes to see if they can help me out... **bleep** that these guys can steal so easily... its not like i gave anyone my password or informations.... Hard to get money for gas when u have to freeze all your accounts because some jerk realllly needed "house season 1", gimme a break.... well anyways good luck man and looks like we got to play the waiting game 😛