Apl.itunes has taken money from my account and I never ordered anything.

If you don't have an Apple iTunes account, you should call your bank right away and report it to them.

FYI: My bank recently identified and blocked an unauthorised attempted account debit pretending to be from APL itunes but actually from some other organisation/person planning to steal my money. I'm having my card changed.

I'm having the same issue what should I do?

Call your bank. I was issued a new card and number by Bank of America.

Yes, it sounds like this is not actually related to iTunes; rather, it's an attempt by these folks to delude your bank. I'd start with the bank and see what they say. I am extremely curious to hear what they do say. If anyone has done this, please let me know.

It is 2/19 and I checked my bank statement and saw APL iTunes. I do not even own an Ipod. My bank told me to wait until the transaction actually posted on my account which would be tomorrow. I was asked to call back on Wednesday. This is very scary.

Well, you could call Apple and tell them that someone might have made a purchase with your credit/debit card. They would probably suspend that card. I am not sure, but it is worth trying. I am very curious to hear how it turns out.

Sounds like they don't know who the scammer was. Sounds like someone got away with posing as Apple. But, I would think the dispute process should go in your favor.

I have the same problem too. I just find the charge on my credit card on Mar 1, 2008, and I dont know what to do.

Same problem! Yesterday I found where 'apl itunes' had transfered over a 150.00 out of my checking account. The last time I had bought anything from itunes was about 2 years ago and it was just for a couple songs plus I did it thru paypal. I emailed and talk over the phone with Apple and they said it wasn't them, they didn't even had any of my account info. The person I talked to said that they hadn't heard anything about this problem, she and I just fingured the 'PTB' had not put the word out and trying to keep it quiet and out of the press. I went to my bank and we filed a dispute form and canced my card and ordered a new one. The bank said I had a good chance of getting my money back.

What is the name of your bank?

I read your early posts and I think I stated that Apple is playing dumb on this or at least the people in the fraud departmart. I had talked to my bank (the big 800 type #) on the phone and they said to go to my local bank to handle the paper work. When I got to the bank they were surprise that my card wasn't canceled on the phone but they took care of that for me. Oh' it is Regions Bank

This same exact thing happened to me! On 2/29/08, two charges were made to my bank check card. The first one was for $154.00 and it posted immediately. When I saw the unauthorized charge I called the bank immediately and had it removed. I was very relieved. I cancelled my check card and will soon get a new one. However, yesterday another amount for $150.00 was applied. I didn't know how this would be possible since I had cancelled my card. It turns out the 2nd charge was made at the same time, but didn't post to my account until yesterday. I called the bank immediately and submitted a dispute of the charge. Now I have to wait 5 - 7 business days for the $150 to be "temporarily" put back into my account. The bank has 45-90 days to dispute the charge; and if for some reason the dispute's results are not in my favor, I will have to pay back that $150.00 to the bank. I never lost my check card and have no idea how itunes would get my card #, since I never purchased anything from them! I don't even have an ipod!!! Oh, and by the way, the phone number for itunes that the bank gave me only leads you to their website!!!! hopefully, the dispute/investigative department at the bank will have better luck!

I just got back from Wachovia where I cut up my debit card and ordered a new one. I filed a fraud claim and they should be crediting the $150 back to my account on a temporary basis pending that their investigation doesn't prove that I did in fact spend $150 on itunes. I don't even have an iPod or anything made by Apple!
What I would like to know is WHERE this all started. Are any of the other victims out there willing to list websites or merchants that they've recently used the affected cards to buy from?

PS - The guy helping me at the bank put his phone on speaker and dialed the number that was listed with the charge on my account in the bank's system (thinking it would lead us to Apple) and a recording came on, referring us to the website for questions, then there was a lot of interference but we made out "Press 1" so he pressed 1 and the call disconnected. Whoever is behind this has apparently gone to great lengths by creating their own 800 number and linking it to that message, etc. If nothing else, Apple should be investigating on behalf of their own reputation, not to mention the banks and all of the money they will be losing if they are unable to recover the funds!

Wow...how ironic that the magic number happens to be "$150.00" I am sickened by this. I found out tonight that the money will not go back into my account until approximately 10 days from returning the dispute papers. The first bank representative did not tell me this! I just filed the dispute yesterday with the bank and am anxiously awaiting the papers. Once i get them filled out, I have to fax them to the bank headquarters from my branch office. In reply to n2witchn, I believe the number that the bank gave me for itunes was the same number! the same thing happened to me...telling me go the website and then disconnecting! I hope this is soon resolved, and the criminal doing this is caught!

Same here. number listed on the card statement is APL*IT
UNES 866-712-7753 CA

this is really disturbing

I also had a false charge on one of my credit cards that appears to be from Apple iTunes but mine was for $164 and some odd cents. My credit card company actually called me because they thought is was unusual. It's been a whole huge ordeal of figuring out whether it was fraud or a dispute (since I actually do make relevant charges with iTunes on that card from time to time) but I think it will work out soon. It's very frustrating that the number the bank gave me to call iTunes only had an automated message directing me to their website. I went to iTunes and it only says to call your bank to dispute the charge. A freaking run around! I have always loved Macs and Apple, but this has really soured me on them. Even if this isn't their fault that a charge was made erroneously, they should have easier customer service to help resolve the problem.

I'm sorry to everyone whom this has happened. As a positive vote for Apple's iTunes customer service, I have only had a problem with a song I purchased once. I used the help system in iTunes and was promptly given a refund.

The scammer, and thus the bank, are completely responsible for these fraudulent charges, and it's unfortunate that they have used Apple's name to gain credibility for their scam, as well as setting up the 800 number to further trick victims into feeling like Apple hasn't helped them at all, but rather redirected them back to a website.

Aside from contacting law enforcement, there is nothing Apple can do to help anyone who has been scammed in this way. You'll have to call the banks yourselves, as many of you have done already, to successfully recover your money.

Yes, this is really unfortunate, and my heart goes out to you. I sent a message to the Apple public relations folks about this issue you're having, and although they can't help recover any money with this kind of scam, my hope is that we can bring greater awareness of this particular scam. Keep your chin up, and let us know if your bank will refund your money. They certainly should, as you've done nothing wrong in what appears to be a clear case of fraud. Please keep us posted!

I agree that Apple is in no way responsible. It's just like identity theft, but on a corporate level. My money was returned immediately by Wachovia (my bank) upon filling out claim forms. I guess they pursued the issue with the merchant who took my money and my statement reads as if that merchant refunded my money. When I got the refund from "Apl.itunes" the bank took theirs back. Luckily I wasn't strapped for money at the time and no overdraft fees were incurred. That would have totally sucked.

I had the same thing a charge listed as : APL*ITUNES 866-712-7753 CA for $200; 10 days later I was refunded the full amount.. Not to sound like a total idiot but should I still change my card... ?

It's happening to me.... April 2, 2008.

Plainly this scam is occurring on a large scale.

This happened to me today 04-07-08, Bank of America account.
Caught it while it was a "temporary authorization" and canceled my account!

I just noticed i have 4 charges on my bank card for it! I am going to bank to dispute immediately

Mesma coisa comigo. Dia 10 de abril o pessoal do VISA me informaram que a APL ITUNES roubou 1 real do meu cartãde créto. Por isso meu cartãfoi bloqueado e agora vou ter um novo cartã(Se eles começam roubando 1 real, no próo mêeles podem roubar 500 reais, por isso meu banco decidiu bloquear meu cartãe me enviar um novo).
Same thing with me...APL ITNUES stole money from my VISA CARD. So my Bank makes a blockade in my VISA card for security. Now I got a new card.

Yes, this is a scam that is happening to a lot of people. I have sent Apple PR reps details about it so they are aware that it's happening, but they have not responded to me. I know this is very scary and frustrating, but I think it is key to keep in mind that this is not Apple stealing money. It's an organized scam that probably has nothing to do with Apple. They're just using the Apple name to seem legit.

I would be curious to know if anyone in this discussion has not received a refund. My hope is that all of these banks honor the fact that this is clearly fraud.

Eeee gads. I guess I don't feel so picked on in light of the prevalence of this issue. Woke this morn to find three separate 1.00 Apple iTunes charges pending on my Wachovia Visa debit card! Dated today! I just woke up, for Christ's sake!! Spent a frustrating hour on the phone with Wachovia customer support getting passed around and disconnected. Finally got an angel of a woman who filed all disputes, took charges off hold, cancelled my card, requested new issue, etc. Geez.

To add insult to injury, there was a 29.95 charge from 4/9 for ANCESTRYS! As if I care about my geneology. Did a quick google and found a similar pattern of fraud.

I'm switching all my online shopping to a Discover card. I'm just lucky these amounts were so small and didn't overdraw me. Although Wachovia would've reversed all charges.
What a maze of grief.

Now I have to spend an hour trying to figure out how to get this info to Apple. Without spending hours wading thru irritating phone prompts.

OK, thanks for the response, but why are they even there? That's what's disturbing, regardless of whether they are true charges or pre-auth holds! I haven't purchased anything from them and have not consented that they have access to my debit VISA. I don't know if you read all three pages like I did, but it sounds like someone goes in as "apple" and once acct. is verified, they take a lot more money. I canceled my debit visa immediately after I read this board.
And as I said, two days prior someone took 29.99 on the same debit visa linked to my checking under the name of ANCESTRYS. You can google that name with unathorized charge and find a string of complaints that go back to 2005 or earlier!

Thanks to whoever on this board suggested a Paypal lock. I went right over and ordered one. I do a TON of stuff on eBay and many other places with paypal. All I need is people helping themselves to my checking account.

Yes, I agree. The PayPal lock is a great idea.

My assumption is that some banks are being way too loose with the way that they authorize debits.

Let me work on this one a little more, people!

I always check my online bank account everyday cause I hate carrying cash so I use my debit card on everything. Well on 04/17/08 I see this on my account:

Pending Debit Card: APL*ITUNES -$41.81
Pending Debit Card: APL*ITUNES -$1.00
Pending Debit Card: APL*ITUNES -$41.81
Pending Debit Card: APL*ITUNES -$41.81

Called my bank and they "stopped" my debit card and gave me the number to the merchant:

866-712-7753

I called it and got this automated voicemail:

Thanks you for calling Apple, information about the iTunes store and answers to your credit card questions can be found at

www.apple.com/support/cc

If you have a specific question, please contact us through this website...if you would like to hear this message again please press 1...

Called my bank again to tell them it was a scam...asked if the first person I talked to canceled my debit card and she said no (when the first person said she did already)...then she asked me some personal information for security purpose and canceled my debit card.

04/21/08 - I noticed these charges went though so I called my bank to file a dispute. I asked if I was the first to her knowledge and she told me that she highly doubt that Apple will scam people cause they are a big corporation. Oh I was pissed. Then she got tired of me and said my money should be refunded in my account by Monday 04/28. F*ck WaMu for not taking my side and accusing me. F*ck these POS scammers.

I have just been charged today 4/28/08 from an APL ITUNES account and I do not buy any music online. Maybe if we all state what companies we used our charge at in the days before the charge appear on our account, we can connect the dots and find out where they are getting their info. I used my card at JCPenney, Joann Stores, VZWRLESS ECars OT, Nasco International, Pizza Hut, Tractor Supply, Blockbusters and Blue Seal Feeds.Yes I do charge too much. Lets get together and find these Bas#*#ds.

I just had this scam done to me too, I found out this morning

04/29/2008
Debit
POS PURCH CHECKINGAPL*ITUNES 866-712-7753 CAUS($200.00)

I will be going to the bank once they are open today, hopefully they will be able to sort it out quickly. I guess I'll have to get a new card, etc. Good luck to all of you, hopefully SOMEONE stops this, since its obviously been going on for months.

Nick

This has also happened to me - There were $40. in itunes charged to my credit card. I cancelled the card, but wonder if anyone has been able to get information from Apple concerning "who" made this purchase?

I don't buy music of the internet I don't own a apl. i tunes. Why are you takeing money out of my bank account.... I would like to speak with a person about this
Monica Anghel.
Please solve the problem imidiately....

I talked to my credit card company who issued an immediate cancellation of charges without any argument, and said that Apple has been cooperative in cancelling disputed charges in the past. The lady also said that the charges did come from APL*ITUNE and believes it is happening "accidentally," from random errors. How so many random errors are occurring when name, credit card number, expiration date and code need to match before a card is accepted, doesn't add up in my view. Since I had never even visited this website, let alone purchased any tunes, my card number and information shouldn't be on file anywhere with them. I'm curious about "who" made these purchases, too.

This has happened to me as well. I have a Discover card and have had two charges 4/28 $49.95, 4/30 $48.87. Discover has issued me temporary credits and are investigating the charges. I shop online a lot. Recent purchases include ebay with paypal, toysrus, digital storm and amazon. Hope this helps.

Same thing happened to me tonight. I noticed a $1.00 pending charge from APL*ITUNES...I've never provided my billing info to apple.com, itunes, or any Apple-affiliated site that I'm aware of. The only things I've purchased online recently are some memory from newegg.com (1 month ago) and an ipod from itsonsale.com (last week). I've never done business with itsonsale.com, so can't vouch for them, but I have never had a problem in 4 years from newegg.com. I promptly called and had my card canceled. I'm just waiting to see if any more charges come through...

Hope this helps.

This sucks but I don't think Apple has any real recourse unless you somehow allow them access to your financial records and let them talk to your bank on your behalf with permission. Otherwise they have no method to trace the problem because their credit card wasn't scanned and privacy rules keep them from tracing your purchases.

The real problem is that while you may get these charges refunded (and visa will actually give you a 'loan' for the stolen money until the situation is resolved, which is nice), there's NOTHING stopping them from doing it again.

I'm from Australia and received a call today from my bank asking if I had made a $1.00 purchase with Apl Itunes with my card. When I said no, she said she would immediately decline the charge and said that I should also immediately cancel my card. She further said that there is an organized crime element that make $1.00 purchases on Apl Itunes with fraudulently obtained card numbers. If the charge isn't disputed by the cardholder then the criminals "get to work" making bigger purchases with the card number. Apparently it has become such a big problem my Bank specifically filter out all $1.00 card transactions for Apl Itunes and contact the cardholder within a few hours. It could have cost me my savings as my Visa debit card is linked to my savings account. Wouldnt Itunes would be able to provide the IP address of the person making the purchase to help close down these criminals for good???

Same thing happened to me . I noticed 4 transactions of $1.00 $1.00 $103.00 and $103.00 pending charge from APL*ITUNES...I've never provided my billing info to apple.com, itunes, or any Apple-affiliated site that I'm aware of. This pending transactions appeared on my account last for $1.00 but not posted. I promptly called my bank,they said nothing can be done until it is posted.Though I had my card canceled this really annoys as it also reduces my available balance. I'm just waiting to see if any more charges come through...

The first time I reply to this problem was 3 months ago. I went to my bank and they gave me the money back and filed fraud paperwork. But before they could do anything my money was put back in my account, the bank and I could never find anything out about how/why the money was taken or put back.

To me one of the strangest part in all this is I have never seen anything in the news about this. It is pretty much clear that there still is a problem with money being taken but no one knows how or why. The couple of times I have gotten a email back from Apple they state they don't know what is going on (the people that I heard from said it was the first they heard there was any problem). A lot of people on the board say they hadn't ever ordered anything from the company so I would think that alone would make a good new's story.

It happened to us too. 2 duplicate charges on our PayPal Debit Mastercard, both on the same day less than minutes apart. We have never had anything to do with Apple. I have sent an e-mail to PayPal's fraud department warning them of this continuing fradulent activity by someone claiming to be APL*ITUNES 866-712-7753 CA. The problem is that any person who opens up a PayPal Business or Priemier account and accepts credit cards can give their company any name they want real or not. You don't even have to be a registered legal business to get a PayPal Business or Priemier Account. Soomeone or some persons are out their trying to scam people out of lots of money by pretending to be Apple iTunes. If it was really apple it most likely would have not said APL*ITUNES as that is not Apple's legal name and they probably would have given a legitimate telephone #. I reccomend that people check all their bank or credit accounts daily or every other day to ensure that there is no fraudulent activity going on behind your backs. Also you should sign up for some sort of Privacy Alert from a credit bureau or your financial institution. I would be cautious of the Life Lock add on TV. They just reported in the news that it doesn't work. The guy who gives out his real SSN on TV had people use his info to get credit cards, bank accounts and much more. His gaurantee that if your identity ever got stolen he would give you $1 million in not woth anything.

If anyone hears of who this fake company is please e-mail me back at atlantisconsumerservices@hotmail.com.

Thanks!

What a scam.. This just happen to me on 5-25-08, my husband tried to download a song from iTunes and it gave him an error. The next day there was two charges on my bank account of $1.09 each APL*ITUNES 866-712-7753 CA US. I called the # and it sent me to this website..
Not sure if it's a scam or if this charge is from iTunes?? Not sure what to do. I guess I will try to contact Apple's iTunes for a refund??
Someone needs to put a stop to those scammer bas#*#ds..

It happpened to me too. I do not have any account with Itunes or Apple. I also did not purchase anything from this site or through a retail store. There is a pending transaction for $103 (2 transactions of $51.50) on my checking account which was done on 5/31/08. CHECKCARD APL*ITUNES
866-712-7753 CA ON 05/31/2008

The iTunes website posts this:
"I have a question about a $1 charge on my statement."

Here is their answer:
"Like most merchants, iTunes places a $1 authorization hold to verify that your credit card is active when you update your billing information. This is not an actual charge and the bank will remove the hold."

I'm from Brazil, same thing happened to me. My bank called me sunday telling that APL ITUNES was trying to charge 1,00 and they tought it would be a fraud. So, they changed my credit card number, blocked the old one, and i'll need to wait the charge to appear on the cc statement to start a dispute. This card, also, was at my paypal account, but I have never sent any card or billing information to itunes or even apple. ALSO WE DON'T HAVE A ITUNES STORE IN BRAZIL!!!!
So, apparently, it has something related to paypal. I wrote them spoof@paypal.com telling this story, also i wrote apple telling the same thing. Removed all my cc's from paypal, just to be sure this won't happen again.

Okay, I have exactly the same problem: just today, I found a charge from a APL ITUNES on my creditcard, what the helt! Okay, I remember reading a post from someone, that if we are to track where we've used our account, maybe we could get to the bottom of this. I had used my creditcard at Pizza Hut recently...did anyone else?

got a $1. temp hold from apl itunes and also a $29.95 charge from ncyinc.com(an escourt service out of new york. We canceled our card. We are very secure and digital on our phones and careful on internet ordering/secure sites...but we too had this credit card logged on Amazon, and Paypal. We have only used it on secure and places of business that we know...so you figure....someone is a mole at the credit card company?...It was a mbna card that bank of america bought a while back. will try to phone the no. above...the jerks....what does it take to get a cop over to their scam..

I got 4 charges from this scam and I have never downloaded anything from Apple. One charge is for $1.00. Another for $43.22, one for $47.18 and one for $42.22. I've contacted my bank. Of course the charges are pending at this time.

I actually joined a membership at Software-HQ supposedly for 3 years at $12.65 per year yesterday. I'm showing a charge from them for $70.80???

I've tried contacting them but I keep getting a message telling me to leave my # and they'll get back to me. They still haven't since all day today.

Now these Apple scammers show up the next day???

Badda Bing, Badda boom.

Like everyone above, I too have have a pending charge for

Pending1 Debit Card: APL*ITUNES -$1.00
Pending1 Debit Card: APL*APPLEONLINESTOREUS -$1.00

I haven't bought anything online since the 9th of June. Today being the 14th.

My story is the same as everyone above, called the bank, gotta wait for the charges to go through, blah, blah.

Lets see what the morning brings. *shudder*

I-Tunes is a fruad, and I have reprted them to the FBI, FCC, and FDIC

Im from the UK and it seems to have happened to me too. A transaction made on 28th May from APL_ITUNES for £1. My bank contacted me about this and I immeaditely belived it was me using ITunes...but then I relalised it wasnt, after looking at my account.

Thanks to my bank Abbey National for picking this up, It seems that some banks in UK are aware of this and are responding accordingly. Id still like to know where THE SOURCE of this came from.

I do have one possible answer though, and it may be my own fault: A few months ago I had a bot-net attack on my pc which my virus software didnt pick up. I was notified by my ISP who blocked my machine until I wiped it and re-installed the system. I belive bot-nets not only turn your machine into a spam server and send out spam emails...they can also record personal details you put on the net.

My advice to all this is as soon as you have any security issue concerning your credit cards.. wipe and re-install your system, change your cards and banking passwords and dont do online purchasing unless the site is Verisign or equivilant secured.

Its a hassle, but as soon as you hear that something like this is happening to you its worth being over zealous.

I would to know what product was charged to me? How do I find the answer?

same thing happened to me, 2 of my cards were charged from Appl itunes (debit card and completely different visa card) Disputing both of them!

This happened to me yesterday June 27, 2008. I've never done business with iTunes. I have 4 charges of $103 each and one charge of $1, for a total of $413. I immediately called the bank and had the card canceled. They're doing a fraud investigation. As freaky as this situation is, it's comforting to know that I'm not the only one having the problem. It's weird that it's such a widespread thing. Obviously there are many people who have had this happen to them. I guess I'm just part of the club.

I got the number 866-712-7753 as well and of course called it and it was a dead end. Clever little scammers.

Anyway, all of you out there who have had this happen to you, I'm officially joining your ranks. Good luck!

I have the same problem, two $1 charge pending for 6/30/2008. I've never shop at Apple, I never bought a single Apple's product either.
Called the bank, and told them that the charge is a fraud and unauthorized. They're issuing a new card.

I believe someone leaked the account info and use that leaked account information to buy songs from Apple.

I had 2 charges on 6/25 and 2 charges on 6/30 for $200 each for a grand total of $800. I called 1-800-myapple to find out what is going on and they said they unfortunately don't have phone support for fraudulant charges at this time. I am so pissed i'm about to explode.

My kid only oddered two cheap songs on line, and my credit card statement showed $70 for these two songs, which is totally unacceptable!!!

The same thing happened to me 2 days ago. I immediately reported it to my bank, cancelled my card and ordered a new one. Something is very amiss
at Itunes. Way to many fradulent cases.

just checked my online Chase Visa debit card account and I have 4 different transactions from "APL*ITUNES 866-712-7753 CA" They are in amounts of $44.56, $44.56, $44.45 and $44.36. I don't purchase anything online, i don't download iTunes, and I've never done business with Apple. There is also an additional charge that I know I didn't do for "NOMINALIA INTERNET-BARCELONA" FOR $50.05. I don't know anything about this charge. i've had to cancel my debit card and i'm waiting for the charges to post so that I can file my claim. I'm the only one with access to this account and debit card. It's frustrating. I've seen reports on the iTune charges, but nothing on the Nominalia charge. If anyone has information on that, let me know.

I have just been charged with 2 purchases from APL*ITUNES. They were only for $1 each (for now!), but I was also charged 2 times from skype.com for a total of over $30. One transaction said WWW.SKYPE.COM, and the other was for SKYPE.COM. I don't know why they would be so simular, yet slightly different. I still have my debit card and it is never out of my sight, so I know it wasn't used like that. The only other option is that my information was gotten online. I have used paypal, made a purchase at Petco, and been refunded money for a purchase at Petco, Those are the only things I have used my card for this month. Has anyone else used their cards for these reasons? I called every number my bank offered, but they are closed and will not re-open for 3 days. I am very concerned that I will be charged even more in the coming days. To top it off, I don't have a phone number to call APL*ITUNES, and SKYPE.com's entire site doesn't have a single phone number on it. McAfee isn't finding any security threats. Does anyone know how they are getting our information?

Just got my CC statement, 4 transactions were made on June 21, 2008. $100.00, $50.00, $50.00, and $100.00. Total $300.00. I never ordered songs from the internet before, I don't own a ipod. How does this make me fell you ask with a time wasted post reply??? I want my fucken money back, NOW!!! Total Horse-Shit!!!

Had bank of america call me yesterday while on the road home from vacation to inquire about "unusual activity on my account" including 4 chrgs of 40.94 and 40.95 from apple i tunes. these chrgs started on 7/21 and concluded on 7/30 when I had the bank change my account # I haven't ordered anything from I tunes except the Elvis video from American Idol 2 yrs ago. Now I have to go and chng all my bank on line accts. to new number. Any Idea of how to get my money back? Like so many that I've read about on this blog, Ive called the # on my bank statement and get referred to here.

Just got a recent charge on my bank account without my knowledge fro $40.00 bucks!!! How do itune resolve these problems popping up!!!!!

I called my bank because they called me with Fraud allert. They tell me I made 5 purchases on 5/29 under transaction number 00245B, 07400B, 05663B, 05246B, 04536B and one on 88/1 071424B. I only made one purchase Turn up the Music or What you Have on 5/29. I have put all other charges in dispute. Please handle this from your end.

My bank gave me the number 1 866 712 7753 to call to see if I can resolve someone using my credit to buy themselves music from you. When I call this number I get your website. There isn't even a customer representative available to do one-on-one support. Instead, I write to cyberspace not knowing who among the five people apparently reading my problem will do one thing about it now or in the future. This method you are currently using to resolve serious matters like this is really inefficient. I am now calling my bank stating your "dispute" services are marginal and give no confirmation of any help at all. I'm disappointed in Apple, with whom I've usually had great respect as I've purchased computers and iPods from you over the years. I'd do something about reorganizing your poor help to a serious issue. I'm not lucky lady, but I'm taking the only visible means I have of replying to someone out there who is supposed to be able to help me.

this also happened to me, "APL*ITUNES" on my statement, i havent bought from itunes in over 2 years... luckily they only spent one dollar...

AT THE SAME TIME i was charged 10 dollars from "WWW.SKYPE.COM" in which ive never bought anything from them nor have i heard of them before seeing this on my transactions history.

Chalk me up as another victim. haven't used my itunes account to ever purchase. I set it up with a new Ipod 3 years ago. I had 4 Charges $103, $103, $51.50 and $51.50 all for "APL*ITUNES and the 800 number. Which when you call is just the recording.

I called my bank and canceled the card. Can't dispute as it's still pending. I also called the real Apple number. The CSR reported that my card had been used to purchase 4 gift cards and then provided me with the email address they were sent to which is not my email address. My Card number was not stored in the apple store so how they got it baffles me.

I have had two charges on my credit card and don't know what they are about. I have called the 866 number on the transaction and get a recording to go to this website. I need talk to a human being now. I did get a woman with a recording to leave a name & number to be reached at. I want a call back to get this problem taken care of.

Same story here. Am VERY angry. I've purchased many things online but todayI had three charges that said they were from APL*ITUNES. One for $103, one for $51.50, and one for $1.00. I use REGIONS and they gave me the same story. Wait til it's past the PND stage and dispute it. The thing that confuses me most is this. These folks are obviously NOT purchasing itunes. (If they can hack and commit identity fraud they can hack music from any free site) What are they purchasing? How are they managing to make it look like iTunes from Apple? And why is Apple denying it so strongly? The woman I spoke to there damned near called me a liar! So obviously she either was someone with an attitude problem or she hasn't recieved calls from all the folks like us.
I'm thinkin of alerting the media.
Thanks for the website as proof of the problem before I do this.

Just read the "7 employees are here" thing from Apple on the top of this page. I'd like to know why you guys aren't telling your service reps to expect these calls. The woman I spoke with was obviously not aware of this ongoing problem. I just read something about it on a blog that was dated 2004. This is not a new development, obviously.

Just checked my unbilled activity on my city bank mastercard and found 3 charges to ipod. Called city bank they cancelled my account number and will send me an affidavit to send back to them with next bill and was told to deduct the amount of the charges from the bill if they show up.

I just checked my account online tonight and my card was charged 8 times on 7/16/2008 but none of the charges were able to go through. So my bank is now issuing me a new card. GRRRR!!!

i have a itones acct long time custumer i ordered a song on 8/7/08 it was stopped i tried a 3 more times they dont work apple has taken money from bank acct pls fix this problum tlger65 @ yahoo .com

UPDATE: Now I see why the bank won't act until your charges have gone from the "Pending" transaction to "Cleared". My PND transactions on 8-7-08 listed above for 1.00, 51.50 and 103.00 are gone now on 8-8-08 and have been cleared as 50.00, 50,00, 50.00, and 100.00, with the 1.00 still pending. So my orginal loss I believed to be 155.50 total is actually more like 250.00, which pretty much depleted all I have in my account. These guys seem to know exactly how much you have or something for them to withdraw. Filed my police report today. Am still contemplating giving the media something to talk about here. Haven't decided. These scams are common but this one seems to be unique in the fact that the authorities we are calling on the subject don't seem to know about it even though it's on a wide scale. Perhaps that's because of the relatively small amounts not being in the thousands, which keeps them under the radar enough that they aren't being investigated as tough as those who steal thousands per shot instead of what they do, which is steal a few hundred at a time but on a scale of thousands of victims

My name is Kathleen Omori. Please cancel any futher charges on my credit card. My email address is: omorik@hotmail.com Please contact me as soon as possible. I will dispute any futher APL ITUNES charges in the future. Please call or email to solve this problem my phone number is 808-395-8956 or 808-351-5884.
Thank you,
Kathleen M. Omori

Please cancel APL*TUNES IMMEDIATELY. MONEY IS BEING TAKEN FROM MY ACCOUNT EVERY MONTH AND I WANT IT TO STOP!

CANCEL MY ACCOUNT AND STOP TAKING MONEY FROM MY ACCOUNT IMMEDIATELY! IT IS VERY FRUSTRATING THAT I CAN NOT REACH ANYONE BY TELEPHONE. MY EMAIL ADDRESS IS audrey437851@sbcglobal.com I WILL DISPUTE ANY FURTHER APL ITUNES CHARGES IN THE FUTURE. PLEASE EMAIL ME TO RESOLVE THIS PROBLEM.
THANK YOU,
AUDREY JORDAN

I have also been a victim of this fraud. Luckily I was smart enough to google APL itunes and it brought me here to see what I was involved in. My charge was the 1.00 and is still pending--so my bank won't dispute it until it clears. They did cancel my card and are sending me a new one. This is just TOO crappy. I can't believe how bad this fraudulent credit card activity has gotten. Stupid criminals can't make money on their own so they have to steal from us regular people. I live paycheck to paycheck and can't afford this crap! I wish I could just live without my debit and credit cards...but this day and age, it's impossible.

THIS PEOPLE ARE TAKING MONEY FROM MY ACCOUNT ALSO

jesus christ this has happened to me THREE TIMES ALREADY! I've cancelled my card 3 times and gotten a new card. it is driving me batty. i never make purchases online nor do I give a crap about iTunes.. Skype is another charge I see on my card frequently. the charges are always pending, but sometimes they put my account in the negative and it screws me from being able to spend money on that particular day.. the banks aren't doing shit about it and neither is Apple, Skype, or whoever else is involved. it is FREAKIN RIDICULOUS that there isn't some sort of investigation with this. all it takes is a little cooperation for these companies to tell us WHO THE HELL is charging our cards!!! WHY CAN'T THESE COMPANIES GIVE US MORE INFORMATION?????? STOP THIS NOW!!!!

Isn't it obvious that this is a scam when all of these charges are exact dollar amounts, when all of iTunes songs are .99 and nothing else is exactly a $1.00, 5.00, 50 dollars, etc.?

incledible it seems, the banks dont have a god damn clue of where or how to contact the commerce responsible for this scam.

I had $200 taken out of my checking account by APL*ITUNES!!!!!! How do you get it back??????? HOw to stop it????

I too have had the same problem, I have never purchased from itunes, don't know how, I have tried calling my bank. but is Sat night past 10pm. I have been reading all the problems and it seems as though there is a glitch in Apple's programming. I will have to wait until the am and call one of the local banks that are in our grocery stores.. this will be on my mind all night and I will be worried this will happen again.. there is not much in my acct. I am not employed and need all that I have to get along.

I have been charged from APL*ITUNES on my debit card from my bank account. I did not order anything from them. What can I do to stop this.

Apl*iTunes is a dodgy website, and I would assume that most banks were alreasy informed about this. Contact your bank as soon as possible, and make sure that they will stop your card and reissue a new one.

hey i have the same problem but they took it out of my store credit and took my $10. im gunna email and call them i have everyreceipt and im getting some answeres

hey i have the same problem but they took it out of my store credit and took my $10. im gunna email and call them i have everyreceipt and im getting some answeres

I just got hit for five charges totaling $441.98. I called my bank and they said they are getting a lot of itunes issues right now. They are sending me a fraud claim to get my money refunded. Wells Fargo canceled my debit card and is sending me a new one.

Add another one to the list: CHKCARDNAPSTER, LLC 800-83910 NYUS I have two 1.00 debits pending through Wells Fargo.

If you see any $1 authorizations pending it just means that Apple is checking your cc to make sure it's valid and those authorizations will drop off.

my C/C was charged $100 from APL*ITUNES(other) on 8/26/08 without my authorization... there were other unauthorized charges on my C/C on 8/28 and 8/29 and the C/C company caught it and put a hold on my account... GOOD JOB... there's about $160 worth of unauthorized charges that they said they would reverse... now I need a new C/C...

APL ITUNES sent first a request of 1€ to my credit card to check if it ́s working, and then inmediatly they charged 136,46€ from Paypal, here the transaction details
*JUDYFORD089 35314369001 on August 16th
Now I need to go police to report this fraud and hope my bank insurance could assume the payment

iiMalron, My account has been charged many times and i didn't notice by APL iTUNES. I was forced to close my account . I contact apple i tunes but they send you to a web sight. They should have better service after taking your money. So please check your statement at all times because you never know what your being charged for.

apple charged me almot a hundred dollars for tunes I did not order. HA HA I am 70 years old why would I order from i-tunes

I just called my bank regarding this same problem. They drained my account completely, which caused an overdraft fee of an extra $25. I was told by booking to call the 866 number, did, it lead me to the site, so I called the 1-800-myapple number and the guy I spoke to was a prick. He wouldn't even look and see if there was an account in my name on the service (there shouldn't be, I don't have an iTunes account) so now I have to go to my bank and sign papers and cancel my card.

My charge card company called me stating they thought there were fraud charges done. I had two $200 charges on 8/28 done to my card. They cancelled the card number right away and sent me papers to fill out stating they were fraud.
Nice company!
I have never ordered from Itunes, nor would I know how and I'm pretty computer savvy. Oh well, live and learn. Crooks are everywhere.

I also had someone to use my credit card to buy $548.62 IN ONE DAY seems to me that it would send a red flag to apple that normal people cannot afford to spend that amount in one day on itunes. There must be a way all these people that i'm reading (including myself) and send a loud and clear message that thay as a large company should have some red flags in place

CAVEAT EMPTOR!!! Let the buyer beware!! Buy your music elsewhere and WATCH YOUR BANK ACCOUNT for Apple!!!

My family and I live in Houston, TX. On Friday night, 9/12/08, Hurricane Ike came through. Thankfully, my family is fine and our property suffered little damage. We did lose power from that night until this past Sunday night and, phones were sketchy at best. What precious little phone time we did have was used to make sure the rest of your family, friends and loved ones were OK, letting them know we were OK and getting or providing whatever help was needed. And, you spend money like mad for ice, gas (when you can find it), food (to replace what you lost) and LOTS of cleaning supplies. Fun times.

During this time, iTunes Store sent two $200 payment requests to my bank under my debit card number. Both of the debits were paid to iTunes by my bank on 9/19/08. i don't know how they got my debit number. I have never been on iTunes Store site and I've never purchased anything from Apple. I don't buy music online. I have no Apple equipment. And, I don't have a cell phone.

Since yesterday, 9/22/08, was the first business day we had power, it was spent contacting insurance companies, FEMA, etc. Today I went online & printed out our bank statement. When I discovered the two erroneous charges, I called the 800 number shown on my bank statement which was provided by iTunes Stores. It was a recorded message, telling me to go to their website for assistance. At the end of the recording, it disconnected. I found no help at the web site. For example, when I tried to view what I'd been charged for, I was asked for a user ID and a password. Not uncommon, except for the fact that I had never been on their site and had never set up an account!! I searched through their site for a phone number that would get me to a live agent with no luck.

I finally tried their live chat feature, where I was told I would have to go to my bank, refuse the charges and let my bank investigate, a process which can take up to 30 days to get MY money back. I asked for a phone number that would allow me to talk to someone at iTunes Store. I was told there isn't one & I should contact my bank, etc. To make a long story short, for twenty minutes, I was stone-walled at every request I made, "...tell me what I've been charged for", "...you will have to log in to your account...or contact your bank, etc...", "...tell me how to log on to the account....", "...we can't give out that information without a subpoena..." (I really LOVED that one!), "put a manager on this chat!", "no, you will have to contact your bank and.....etc"

It certainly appears that there is a scam being run. It is possible that someone inside of Apple or iTunes Store is running it. It would not be difficult. I now question whether Apple or iTunes Store is involved. I would suspect any business that is set up in such a manner as to make it impossible to speak to a live agent.

This isn't over. With the "fraud report" services and phone numbers provided in disaster areas, I plan to make sure Apple is held accountable.

Finally, the media in Houston is running out of ways to report on the disaster and is looking for stories like this. They are my next contact.

I just found 6 charges from APL.ITUNES for a total of $500.00 on my Wachovia account. Seems to escalating on a large scale. I don't own an ipod or a cell phone. Will be interesting to see what the bank does.

I also had 4 charges from APL*ITUNES for a total of $ 400.00 on my credit card. There were also multiple $1.00 charges (but never processed) on two other cards. I have closed the other two cards. I don't own anything Apple and now I know I never will.

I just noticed a $1.00 charge on my account as well. Contacted my bank and got the same bogus 866-712-7753 number that has been reported here. I've cancelled my card and hope that $1.00 is as bad as it gets for me. I have used my card in the last week online at Paypal, Pizza Hut, DirecTV, Allstate, AmEx, American Airlines, and my local utility company.

My husband and I have a Capital One credit card, we had a $100.00 charge from APL*ITUNES last Thursday. We immediately called the credit card company and they are investigating the situation. It is really frustrating because no one deserves to have money literally stolen from their accounts/credit cards. I hope they catch these Assholes!!!

My best advice is to just call your bank, or credit card company and report this right away, maybe even mention this forum and let them know that there's several other people that are going through the same problem.

i need this cancelled as soon as possible,,.,.,.,.,,.

This has happened to me three times, once I couldn't buy a CD of songs from iTunes (a deal that is no longer available) because it lowered my account balance. I use gift cards, because I don't buy as much on them, but it has taken money from the gift card, so I don't think it's something wrong with credit cards. Though, it takes considerably smaller amounts ($.99) every time, that's still a song that I don't get because of some glitch.

Also, it seems to happen randomly, I've bought things for weeks and then suddenly, oops, it happens again.

stop taken money from my credit card

This Happened to me twice and I learned that this company is a service type fraudulent company out of Ventura California but, that is probably a front from an overseas organization. They actually tried to hit me for a total of about 2,800 dollars under the guise of the $1.00 pending transaction. The pending transaction verifies your account and, in a sense, grants them access to your money. They will then attempt to take any money they can get from you. Fortunately for me, I keep a low limit on my credit card and I monitor my card online daily since this happened to me 2 years ago. I alerted my CC company and they contacted me back to advise of the attempts made on my account.
My suggestion to all who read this, is set a low daily limit with your CC company or bank. If you need a large amount for a purchase, you can call you bank to authorize a temporary increase in the limit and then afterwards, call and re-establish a low limit. This will limit the amount that potential thieves can get from you. It will also go a long way in helping to track these dummy corporations.

I got $400 iTune gift card charge from crook hack to my iTune account and use my credit card. I cancel my credit card right away and remove the credit card from the iTune account. Apple iTune is a security mess. Terrible.

my name is humberto i have noticed on my bank acc. you have been charging for music , i do not order music or anything please discard all charges...