apple allows itunes FRAUD! report them to the FTC!!

They took about $1,500 from my credit card in a very obvious sequence - several at $10, then try $20 for a while, then $30, then $40, the $50, then $100. Next day, do the same again. Did they think someone was buying iTunes cards for some huge family?

No help from email support, their response was:

"I appreciate your patience and hate that you are going through this misfortune.

Unfortunately, I won't be able to disclose any account information to you. The iTunes Store does not provide any account information--including account activity and personal information--without a subpoena. We do this for your protection."

and

"Again, Brian, you are a valued customer here at the iTunes Store. It is our desire to help you in any way we can, within our policy limits."

Their policy got them $1,500 and me a large headache to sort out. Thanks for the help Apple.

I just found out $70.00 had been taken out of one of my bank accounts by itunes on music i never purchased. 2 separate purchases within 2 days. I called my bank to report the fraud, closed the account, emailed itunes customer service to report it and removed all my account info off of Itunes including the password. Lets see what happens now, Im hoping the bank will investigate it and get itunes to reimburse me the money...if not this will be the last time Ill ever purchase online music again. Very disappointing and upsetting to say the least. My advice in the future, always use a separate account for online purchased with a limited amount of $ on it or pay pal.

I am a 54 yr old female, don't even know what Itunes is, yet there is a $200 charge on my bank acct?????????? Somebody better fix it and quick.

The best thing that you can do is to call the phone number on the back of your card to dispute the charge and request a new card.

An unnamed super market chain had 4.2 million credit card numbers stolen from their files recently, and the fraudulent iTunes charges are believed to be related either to the theft or a similar incident. Rest assured that these charges are not coming from Apple.

It's unfortunate that the media has not covered this extensively, but disputing the charge and requesting a new card should bring you out of harm's way.

This totally isn't iTune's problem. This is your credit companies problems. Call them, and dispute the charges through that method. Apple is looking out for your security, when you call - they want to make sure you aren't attempting fraud yourself.

This is basic security, even the back of your credit card has the instructions for reporting fraud issues.

It isn't my problem that there is a theif out there, it isn't my credit card company's problem using your definition. We are all innocent victims. The point is that I have two accounts (self and wife) that are authorized to use a specific credit card which is in my name - the name matches, There is another account that has used that credit card. Does the name on that account match? Can you just give me the account name?

When I go to the ATM my credit card statment gives me some indication of who (which ATM card - self or wife) did the transaction. When I buy from a number of sources there is an indication of something unique about the transaction. The itunes transaction on a credit card says nothing unique. The item they sold would have been music to play on a specific account or an iTunes credit - probably the case as these many transactions were all in $10 multiples. Everything that was sold is simply traceable by an account number. It is something they could put a halt to. But no. Pray tell, what would stop Apple reporting the name of the account along with the transaction to a credit card so that the owner of the credit card could know which of the people they had approved to use the credit card had done the transaction. The only place where privacy is not honored is where they usage was without the owner's consent - have we now moved to the stage where people who break the law get privacy protection that hides their actions?

This simple action would reduce fraud massively - it may cause them to go to another method but from what I see of these iTunes cases, they would diminish rapidly as the fraudster would know it was traceable.

And yes, I have reported it to my credit card compnay but that leads to a painful proof path and then almost zero chance that the funds will be recovered without help - wonder why there is so much fraud in the credit card industry? Wonder why we have a few financial problems in the world?

OK, they don;t want to give me the info - they can give it to my credit card company - but no they refuse without a subpoena. So I have to try to prove "not me" and the fraudster's life get's easy due to this protection.

Nowhere did I say this was Apple's fault - what I said is that they are refusing to help stop or curtail crime in a very simple manner that is available to them.

This is analagous to an owner of a security video camera saying that they cannot reveal the image of the robber as this would be a breach of people's privacy - b/s. In such cases they post a sign saying "video cameras in use" and everyone knows. Apple could modify their privacy policy to state that they will provide account names to help reduction of fraud. We all get to click the new agreement and life moves on.

This has just happened to me today!! I called i tunes fraud department and they told me the same exact thing they told you...except they added that this happens all the time with companies...is that really their excuse?!? When they told me they would not give me the information I told them I was calling the police...they did give me a number to give to the police and they said they can call and get the information for their records...it is #408-974-2351 You can call your local police and file a fraud report and they will handle it from there and get all the information they need from itunes. Thankfully I caught this quickly...they started charging my card last night, I caught it in time today before the banks closed and changed all my accounts, they also put fraud holds on the transactions, then called the police. I am not sure where this originated from but all I can say is that I ordered some Christmas items for my children from the online apple store about 10 days ago for the first time and now someone has stolen my credit card information. People have no shame doing this a week before Christmas! Low-lifes...I am a firm believer in Karma and hopefully the police will help them get what's coming to them sooner than later. Unfortunately for them in my case they gave a physical address and their names. There is no smiley face that applies to my comment because I am not sad...I am mad!

The same thing happened to me for $300 from my auto teller card.
I used it to order a generator before the first of the year. I then used it at Subway and I suspect the clerk copied my card or swiped it on one of those devices.

The bank got the charges stopped. It was fortunate that two college looking girls came by looking for work for a college trip to London by doing odd jobs affiliated with the Shriners.
They looked better groomed and spoken than my kids and Grand kids and sounded like legitimate girls from Cal State Fullerton in Fullerton California. They were supposed to come by and wash my motor home on this last Sunday the third of Jan. They didn't show up so my wife went to the bank to cancel the checks on the following Monday and found out about about the $300 charge from I tunes. we had the atm cards canceled.
I'm not sure what happened to the girls because we wrote 2 $40 checks one for each girl. I hope it was just
My checking account and my atm cars are not connected so we just got lucky because we got not charges to any account.
I think the school fund raising was legit but they just didn't show up and it saved my ass.
We are going to use mostly cash from now on and only use the ATM cards when absolutely necessary.
Words of wisdom, if you have to use a card of any kind, never take your eyes off your card,
It seems suspicious that both these things happened within a few days of each of each other, I'm not sure if the girls just didn't show up show up. forgot or what but we can works it out with cash paid in full at the completion of the job.
I can get the car wash to do it by hand for $100 but they do a crappy job.
Buyer beware and keep the cards locked up or well hidden.

I agree with you 100%. I can't even find a phone number to talk to a live person about it. All you get when you call the 1 800 number is the web site email address for support. I made a police report to my local law enforcement & they asked me to notify itunes, but how can I when all they do is direct you to a web page? I think maybe some one is putting their heads in the sand. Maybe if people start refusing to buy from them anymore ( which I am doing) as soon as I get this all straightened out, they might go out of business. The BBB needs to hear about them too. I too am outraged.

I am minus over $400 because of this fraud. I'm on social security and this was going to pay my mortgage. You can't even reach a real person at itunes and Apple doesn't care. Something has to be done about these people and this company.

I just got ripped off for $500 on my iTunes account - charged to my checking account. ITunes is the most unhelpful business I have ever encountered. No phone number, no address you can write to. I was told they have no address, if you can believe that! Thankfully my bank is not holding me responsible for these charges. Since this is limited SOLELY to my Itunes account, I am sure that their info has been hacked, or stolen by their own employees. I will be pusuing this matter with their legal department. www.apple.com/legal/contacts.html

Just got ripped off to the tune of $402. Everyone here is absolutely correct -- Apple has the worst customer service I have ever experienced.

However, the number listed above, 408-974-2351, is GOLDEN. You get an actual live person and boy was he unhappy to learn his number is publicly available.

He told me that Apple had no record of any charges being made on my card. Even though I'm sitting here looking at my account and my bank has already confirmed it.

by the way, like everybody else, Itunes is also the only company that I have experienced this problem with, so it is obviously on their end, the lying weasels.

Kudos to you for actually getting a person. Apparently, they are having a problem with accounts being stolen - they make a second account which is why they don't see the charges on your real account. Imagine, a company that sells phones, but doesn't use them! I have now purchased a Zune to replace my iPod and when my phone contract is up, I will be happily taking a hammer to my iPhone and sending the pieces back to Apple!

I don't see why you even have to give them a card number just to be able to have an account with them. Heres the thing with that. One of my friends never signs out and leaves itunes on and running on her laptop. guess what... laptop gets stolen... her account gets run into the ground. Humm... I think apple should change their policy.

Most of you should provide proof that you did not purchase the amount that was drawn from your accounts. Apple sends email receipts – check your email. If someone stole your number, it's a pain in the ass, but there's little the company can do. If all it took was someone yelling at the person over the phone claiming that they were a fraud victim, everyone would do it and everyone would get "reimbursed", including those that are just liars and cheats.

Many of you are failing to make the distinction between Apple stealing your money (which they didn't) and someone else stealing your credit card number and going to town (which is what happened).

Also, Simi – that friend of yours has to be a responsible human being and log out when they're done. It's not a difficult concept, and again, shows a basic failure to understand the difference between the responsibility of the company and the consumer.

iStig, Apple ultimately received funds stolen from my account. They had to credit my checking account. They are the ones with the f'n IP address and email address used to open a fraudster iTunes account with my debit card, yet they did not do anything with that info. I realize you are a Mac fanatic, but dude, Apple has been heinous in dealing with this problem.

iStig, how the hell do you think i discovered this problem? following my damn finances! i DID get my money back, but it took a month and yes, it was APPLE who had to reverse the charges.

$400 was stolen from me by i-tunes fraud last week...they went through my PayPal account. However "sweet" the woman helping me was, they flat out refused to reverse the charges. With so many other people having problems, I think the FTC should be made aware of this. How am I going to pay my mortgage next month? Or should I not pay my heat bill and freeze to death in February! Apple should be ashamed of themselves. It's apparent to me that there's something seriously wrong with their security. I had them cancel my account but I'm still scared to death that someone (maybe even someone internally at i-Tunes) is stealing my identity. It's making my life absolutely miserable!

i called IRA Haynes and left a nice voice mail. I of course am a victim of this fraud and will visit my bank and file a police report. Additionally I will be contacting my local TV station and believe me I made sure to let this Ira know about this. Please call Ira with Apple at 408-974-2351 and let him know about this insane issue.

I guess Joe Tyson is right. When money is taken from your accounts with false charges, why does everyone think it was apple? Someone just stole your credit card information and took money under a false name.
By the way, it does not neccesarily have to do with apple security. I guess that is not the only online store where most of you people above use their credit card. Somewhere else someone could have stolen the information and just uses apple on your bills to make it look bad.
Didn't anyone lock his credit card? After you discovered that money was stolen, did you actually use the same credit card?

I am sooooo angry, because someone set up a username and password and I guess email with MY debit card information. I discovered about a week ago that they have been spending $350-$400 every month for about six months now. I never noticed because I never look at my bank account. My fault I know, but this is FRAUD! I filed a fraud claim with my bank, but they said that itunes should refund me!! I haven't gotten anywhere with itunes! This adds up to about $3,500!!!!

Checkout itunesvendor.us. They are selling ridiculously cheap itunes giftcards and something tells me that they might be involved in this fraud effecting everyone. I found this thread trying to investigate and thought I would see what everyone else thinks about that possibility?

Yep, I too was hit on 4/16 for 2 $50 gift certs through iTunes and my paypal account. iTunes wouldn't do a damn thing about it and my guess is that PayPal won't either. I too closed my account, etc. etc. Unbelievable!
I am outraged!

I emailed them and called them and got nowhere. The problem is that I had paypal set up for my payment type on iTunes. Now, the weird thing about my transaction was that I purchased 2 $50 Gift Certs, and I received both Certs in my inbox of my email address. So, as far as PayPal is concerned, I did received the merchandise. But, after paypal said they could not help, I went back to both of the gift certs and they were already used. Isn't that so strange?

Actually Kim, it is not at all strange! If you check out the itunesvendor.us website, they sell 4 different giftcard levels, 50, 100, 150, and 200. However, no matter how big your order is you receive it in $50 increments. So if you buy a $200 gift card, you get 4 $50 codes emailed to you. Also, if you look at itunesvendor.us you will see that it says the codes "expire" within 12-24 hours, which doesn't make much sense. Perhaps they say this so that people use the codes before people like you realize what has happened and cancel the transaction or use the card yourself!

Let me know if that makes sense would ya? Thanks for the information too, it looks more and more like this itunesvendor.us website is involved. Any luck getting the ip address of the person who bought the cards?

OMG Robert! That makes perfect sense! I'll bet you my 100 bucks that this is exactly what is happening! I'm going to further investigate this site and report it to the FBI - when I contact them.
I haven't heard back from iTunes, hoping to soon. I have read many websites about this and have found that some people have had luck obtaining the IP addresses.
Here's a thought - what if we victims, I'm sure there are hundreds of thousands of us, sue iTunes in small claims court over this?

I will keep you posted...

Good luck with your investigation, I am also working on one right now and am in contact with Apple. The suing idea is interesting, but, I'm not sure that Apple is liable (no clue actually!), but its definitely an avenue that you might want to pursue! Also, I would like to encourage anyone else that has had this problem to please post in this thread.

The reason is that our thread has moved up in the Google results for itunesvendor.us and anyone who is thinking about purchasing at itunesvendor.us might think twice after seeing how people have been defrauded!

*Note: I'm not positive they (itunesvendor.us) are involved, but it seems quite likely.

Thank you!

I did hear back from iTunes, they will not give the IP address without a court subpoena.

Nice huh?

Good luck on yours - keep me posted.

Sorry to hear that and Will do! What's your next move?

Not sure, I almost feel like I am at a dead end, ya know? Such a pain! I can't believe that they can get away with this....

Roar!

Yes it's a god-awful problem, but - unless I'm massively mistaken - it's absolutely nothing to do with Apple or iTunes.

Just as you can fake caller ID, people can fake that withdrawals are from iTunes :)

Yup, this doesn't help you but it might stop a couple of angry calls to Apple.

Ring your bank/card company...

This has just happened to me too. Is there anyone else here who isn't from the United States? I'm in the UK.

I checked my email the other night only to discover a big bunch of Thank You For Your iTunes Purchase emails, for things I hadn't bought. I obviously reported all the purchases to Apple, cancelled my card right that second and changed all my iTunes info, passwords etc etc. My bank were wonderful, helpful and will refund me. Apple, however, have been abysmal. I sent a complaint to them saying that their security was lax, explaining that I was using a 9digit random alpha-numeric password and my information shouldn't have been vulnerable - and their response? To tell me it was my fault!!!
In their reply -
"This is a issue of a person that had access to your computer and made the purchases. There is only one computer that had accessed your account."

This is completely false. I had my computer in my sight as all these purchases were being made, and they have the audacity to tell me (not even to ask me, but to tell me) that it is not their security that is lax, but my own? Please.

Regardless of the fact that people can fake IP addresses etc etc and Apple are probably not profiting from this, I am very surprised that they are not taking this more seriously e.g. making a statement, being helpful in some way, doing something about this other than covering their own hides and blaming customers. It seems like very weird behaviour altogether.

I'm really lucky that I didn't get taken for much more and have so much sympathy for those of you being skimmed for hundreds and thousands of dollars. I hope you get your money back from your banks. It made me feel so much better to realise I'm not the only one that a) got ripped off and b) got a pathetic response from Apple, so thank you very much for all the posts up here.

Best wishes,
Holly

looking to do a TV News story on this type of fraud... you can reach me at:
ray.parisi@foxtv.com

As far as I can gather, by reading websites, blogs, etc. this has happened to thousands of people and we have been taken for thousands of dollars, even tens of thousands. - maybe more...

What about a class action lawsuit against Apple/iTunes? Does anyone have thoughts?

i woke up this morning to find that i had 2 receipts for $50 each for gift cards made out to random letting for names to my bank debit card. the same card i used to purchase items through itunes which is stored on my itunes account.
i contacted apple and they have stated that they will forward this to the correct dept and will contact me within 24hrs.
i have also contacted my bank and canceled my card, which i have to wait up to 10 business days to receive a replacement/new card. my bank had instructed me to have apple call them to reverse, apple states to have my bank call them to remove/reverse the charges made.
after doing a few simple searches on this occurrence online, i find that there are others that have gone through this and some saying that apple will not reverse the charges.
apple's customer service has stated to me, upon being asked, that the cards have not been used. i then asked why can we not just cancel these cards and refund my bank the charges? i was then stated it was being handled according to apple's company policy. i also asked as to where these charges where being made from cause i was suspecting that apple's secure account information server had been compromised and/or hacked. it was then stated to me that they cannot release this type of information.

now, i fell asleep watching videos in bed on my laptop last night. woke up and checked my emails, still in bed, when i noticed the 2 receipts for the $50 gift card charges. i immediately jumped out of bed and began contacting my bank and apple.

i found a reporter for FOX on another website stating they are looking for similar stories to do a report.
you can contact this reporter for FOX who is looking to cover this on national television.
their email is: ray.parisi@foxtv.com

Yes I agree with you, I hate Itunes!!! they ripe me off too. I work for LAUSD
and I am going to talk to all my coworkers to stay away from Itunes and Apple. I will write to the administrators so they stop using Apple products for the schools. That is going to hurt them a little....Adam

Seems people don't want to understand this: It is NOT apple ripping you off. Someone stole your credit card information and just uses apple's name to get your money.

Lovettfan - I have to agree strongly with Michael. My cc# was not stolen. The timing of the fraudulent purchases took place in less than a minute of my legitimate order being processed with iTunes. I hadn't used iTunes in months and there were no other purchases on my cc made by the criminals with any other merchant. Timing is too close for any coincidence - someone is clearly working within Apple or has access to Apples purchase system and database.

The real problem is what Michael stated-Apple has fallen to the lowest level in merchant responsibility by refusing to even respond to their customers that have been victimized, then keeping the stolen money from the fraudulent charges and finally telling the customer to buzz of and go call their credit card company.

Here's my story:

On May 13th I used my ITunes software to download some songs at around 4PM. The next day, May 14th at around 3PM Apple processed (charged my credit card) for my purchase and sent me an email invoice for that purchase. Apple then sent me two additional invoices for two $50 gift cards that I did not buy or authorize. These extra fraudulent purchases were charged on my ITunes account using my credit card that was listed in the ITunes software on my computer, and were processed separately, but within seconds of the legitimate charge.

The timing of the charges going through was provided to me by the fraud department in my credit card company. I think it is important to note that Apple did not process my legitimate purchase until the day following the downloads, and that the fraudulent charges went through seconds later. This clearly shows that the criminals instigating this unauthorized theft are either working inside Apples purchase processing department or somebody on the outside has hacked into/piggybacked onto the Apple purchase processing computer.

What is completely infuriating and uncalled for on Apple's part is that they offer no way for you to speak to a live person regarding this problem (try to find and call any number they have listed - After several dead ends and transfers you will be told there is no customer service call center for ITunes). When I finally found their "Chat" line, I was promptly told that the two unauthorized gift card purchases were not going to be looked into and that Apple would not reverse, refund or credit them. I was then told that if I really thought I had a problem I should contact my credit card company. In other words, Apple clearly stated that they didn't give a hoot that this might have happened and they were not going to admit, apologize or take any kind of action. Apple, in no uncertain terms, has become another corporation that wants to take your money tell you to get lost. As I found out, I was not alone (see below)

I contacted my credit card company fraud department, and they were very helpful. The CC fraud rep went over the charges with me and confirmed the one legitimate charge and the two unauthorized $50 charges. She said they would reverse them and look into it because there have been "several" of these instances with other customers. The bad part is, that I had to cancel the current card and wait about a week for a new one to arrive. This is a major inconvenience for anyone who has automatic payments set up for utilities, etc. And completely unjustified, because I truly believe that my credit card number was not stolen/compromised, but that someone with access to Apples system is taking advantage of their system.

Needless to say, I have since found that there are several hundreds, if not thousands, of these identical cases happening via ITunes. In every case Apple is refusing to respond, acknowledge and/or reverse the charges. It did not matter whether the victim was using a credit card, debit card or PayPal, the theft happened through the ITunes purchase system, which is owned and operated entirely by Apple Computer, Inc.

I encourage everyone to speak up about this problem. Report Apple to the Better Business Bureau, the FTC, your state's Attorney General and any media outlet you have contact with. This type of stonewalling is uncalled for, and Apple is almost complicit in the theft because they have refused to refund/reverse the charges for everyone involved. And like and iceberg, the people speaking up are only the tip of what is really out there - think about the number of people that are not aware these charges are going onto their accounts or are not speaking up.

This is exactly what happened to me. I use my iTunes account maybe once a month (and I trusted them to keep my cc number secure). Suddenly these charges (2 $50 vouchers) come through out of nowhere. The computer that I have my iTunes application on wasn't even up when the charges were made. I immediately contact Apple and they tell me to go bother my credit card company. I call the cc company and they say, We can see that the account was checked for pre-authorization but that the charges haven't come through yet so we can't do anything. I re-contact Apple and tell them to stop the charges... They say, No. I ask why. They say, Our official policy it to have the credit card company deal with it. We could have stopped all of this right then. But Apple refused. My credit card account wasn't compromised. My iTunes account was. I'm pissed but I'm mostly thinking that what if this happened to my mother. She'd have no idea what what going on. Apple is just abetting criminals and they don't care because their customers, well ex-customers, are paying for it.

I just had two $50 gift card purchases made on my account. It sounds like everyone else going through this is seeing Apple really doesnt care. I dont understand why they are not able to block the gift card numbers so whom ever stole the money can not redeem the cards. It just seems crazy to me that they dont even care about their customers to do something about it. Because of this I dont plan to use Itunes any longer. And Im going to tell anyone who will listen not to use itunes because if something like this happens to them they are totally out of luck.

this is a link to the first fox report airing tonight http://bit.ly/nwadd

the first Fox 5 News story on this issue is airing tonight... here's a link to online version: http://bit.ly/nwadd

Thanks, ray. Will there be a part two to this? Please keep us updated.

ray, you've sparked more coverage:

http://www.ecommerce-journal.com/news...

http://www.macworld.com/article/14068...

Kudos to Ray and Fox for an excellent job reporting on Apple's shenanigans.
As victims, we also need to spread the word. I advise everyone that if they do continue to use iTunes, do not store your credit card number. It may be inconvenient to constantly enter your number every time you want to purchase music, but it is certainly safer.
I personally am boycotting Apple products. I now have a Zune, which I actually prefer to my iPod and when my phone contract ends, I will be enthusiastically destroying my iPhone.

Why is apple being like this? They are allowing this kind of fraud to happen! We should get Lawyers involved and start a class action! It is thier systems that is causing this fraud to happen, they charged my cc 13 times and won't even tell me what was bought.

It's still happening. I reported it to the creditcard bank (number on the back of my credit card) and they will remove the fraudulent charges, cancelled the card in questions, and will reissue a new card. It's a shame.

I'm with anyone who wants to start a class action suit.........these people are doing absolutely nothing to correct this problem.

Wayne W Rutledge

got a $1 pre-authorization from APL*ITUNES to my acct this morning. 7/23/09. The phone number listed on the acct only gives a recording that tells you to go to a web address that takes you nowhere. I am an old fogie, not only have i never purchased an itune, I wouldn't know where to put it if i did. I immediately called my bank and made them aware of the charge and canceled that card. Now here it is Thursday (so close to the weekend) it will take me 2-3 BUSINESS days to get a new card and i have to go out of town on Tuesday. This problem has obviously been going on for a very long time and it seems that even media coverage is doing nothing to discourage this type of behavior. It's a shame that we have to work so hard, especially in this economy, and have someone just take money right out of our pockets and they do it so effortlessly that it's like an added slap in the face. I am also going to contact the BBB and the FTC regarding this problem.

For the last six months I have had debits that I did not authorize I recently just had $150.00 to an online Texas holdem and a few other odd things. I don't even know how to play Texas holdem. I knew it all had to be tide back to my iTunes account I just couldn't prove it. I am so ready to take this screw balls down. Enough is enough.

The charge just showed up on my account as a pending transaction for a placer amount of $1. Whenever there is a fraud charge on your account, the first thing anybody should do is contact the bank. Any charges reported as fraud or 'unauthorized' will be honored as this is something that is monitored by the credit card companies who authorize the banks to issue you a credit card in the first place. It's too bad that some people are quick to pass blame instead of dealing with the problem and trying to help correct it. Thank you 'James' for your information as it is 100% correct. For the record, my bank is honoring my request and I will not be responsible for any charges that I did not initiate. itunes is just a front for these charges not the responsible party.

I understand that Apple isn't at fault for the problem, but at the same time feel that they could care less about the problem their inactivity is placing upon the public. Obviously there is or has been a connection that allows someone to present themself as Apple to the CC companies. Apple should at the very least follow up on tracking down the offenders instead of turning away and allowing it to happen. Look at all the BAD PR they are getting from this!

haha people hate apple a lot lol i can tell all buisneses do some type of wrong doing and this i guess is one of them threaten them but i foubt it will totaly oslve the problem the new firmware released 3.0 i am having many bugs i cant believe people pay for that stupid software

Hello All,
NBC in Boston, MA has contacted me for an interview on this frustrating topic and they are looking for additional people in New England to interview. If you are interested in interviewing with them, please contact me at kapullis@live.com.
Thanks!

They seem to have changed and/or added sites. The new one is itunes123.com . whois points to it being East Asian, most likely China (The listed emails are all yahoo.com.cn, which appears to be the Chinese version of Yahoo). I suppose that is not really a major surprise, though...

There also seems to have been a Canadian-based hosted version, although it appears to be down. The actual charging portion seems to utilize plimus.com . They seem to be seeking people to help them spread the word about their site, with the incentive of 10% per commission. Once you get past their main pages, their English SUCKS. Also, all of the Privacy Policy and Terms & Conditions stuff is just words and not actually links, which really pushes the fraud theory.

One last note:
They also sell XBox Live membership, PSN Cards, Mobile Me accounts, Skype minutes, and Amazon.com gift cards.

As many have already stated, this isn't Apple's fault.

Someone got your credit card number, somehow. You're right that Apple has a lot more information about the fraudulent charges than you do, however-- demanding that they provide this information to you-- even if they DID-- is a waste of your time and energy.

By reporting the fraud to your Credit Card company, THEY will follow up with Apple/iTunes, collect and compile information (yours and other instances w/the same CC company), and deal with law enforcement to solve the problem. The card company has a lot better chance of resolving the problem than an individual would. What are you going to do-- call the police? Or-- travel to Malaysia and knock on the guy's door?

Reporting Apple to the FTC and the BBB is a waste of time and resources. Go through the proper channels and let them work to take care of the problem.

Apple IS working with Credit Card companies to resolve these problems. They shouldn't be wasting resources trying to work with each individual consumer-- the credit card companies have far more clout, can compile data, and can go after the problem much more efficiently.

I've had a few fraudulent charges show up, but never thought to blame the company that the charge came from-- it was some random idiot who nabbed my credit card number from some random transaction-- local or not. Report the fraudulent charge-- it'll be refunded and you'll get a new card.. then move on with your life.

Credit card fraud is all too common-- watch your charges online and report fraudulent activity immediately.