My iTunes Account got hacked!

Abe Olandres May 4, 2009 · 1 min read

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I felt a bit stupid discovering that my iTunes account was hacked for about a month already and only noticed it yesterday. Now, I’m just figuring out how it happened and will wait for Apple customer support if they can reverse the charges.

It all started with a nagging password prompt on my iPhone 3G. Can’t download any new apps because it says I got a wrong password. Since my DSL that month was sluggish, I thought it was just the connection. My last app download was Skype and Yahoo for the iPhone.

Then I remembered that email from iTunes about me requesting a new password (something I know I didn’t do int he first place). The account was tied to my Yahoo! email which I seldom check.

Yesterday, while checking the Meralco bill that was emailed to me, I also found these charges on my iTunes account:

itunes

That’s when I realized my account was hacked. I immediately requested a new iTunes password and also changed my Yahoo! account password. Reported all the paid apps to Apple as “Did not intend to buy this” and waiting for their response to reverse all the charges.

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Abe Olandres

Editor-in-chief

Abe is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of YugaTech with over 20 years of experience in the technology industry. He is one of the pioneers of blogging in the country and considered by many as the Father of Tech Blogging in the Philippines. He is also a technology consultant, a tech columnist with several national publications, resource speaker and mentor/advisor to several start-up companies.

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66 Comments

overcoming · 13 years ago

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and it’s time to be happy. I have read this publish and if I may just I desire to suggest you some attention-grabbing issues or suggestions. Maybe you could write next articles regarding this article. I wish to learn even more issues approximately it!

lito · 16 years ago

oh! sorry for that. buti ganon lang kalaki ang nagamit sa account mo.

suzane · 16 years ago

Hello!
I collect utility bills from different countries.
The first 3 persons who send me all the Philippines bills (phone, house and electricity) for one year (12 bills of each kind) will receive 20 dollars from me to your paypal account.
Send me email first.
Thank you very much in advance.

ra-3 · 16 years ago

wow yuga, first overcharging sa iphone mo then na-hack naman itunes account mo. happens to the best of us, i guess. or is the problem inherent in apple itself? the more u look into that company and its policies, the more gusto mong batuhin ng buto ng santol. really leaves a bad taste in the mouth.

Kevin · 17 years ago

Geez… That is why Id rather buy Cd’s than iun iTunes… god… technology these days

matt chua · 17 years ago

Who’ got any ipod touch? I can help y’all out modify it….
Any version… 1st gen. Or 2nd gen. I can jailbreak it…. So free apps for
Everyone no need for itunes account…. Just reply to me…. My email address is
ma****@yahoo.com

Arnold · 17 years ago

I think the majority of hacked ym accounts are coming from people who got thier computers infected on a virus that specifically attacks yahoo messenger.

Reel Advice · 17 years ago

I have to agree with Hamilton Chua. It is probably the Yahoo! account that gave away your iTunes account. In the past few months, I have seen a significant number of my friends’ YM accounts being hacked sending me messages about slimming products and what-not! I never dared to go to these links knowing they are very suspicious links!

Nash · 17 years ago

Oh my!

scary, i hope this won’t happen to me.

I hope you’ll get a positive feedback from the appStore admins.

Jehzeel Laurente · 17 years ago

I think may nag sabotage sa iphone mo. May nagnanakaw ng passwords and cookies thru bluetooth. Kahit naka off yung bluetooth ng phone pwede eto pasukin. Nakalimutan ko anong tawag doon. :D hehe…

Dapat in public places naka off talaga ang phone, kundi yari sa bluetooth hackers.. kasi kahit e hide or disable ang bluetooth, na-a access parin wooooooot!

information · 17 years ago

That is why i used a free account on iTunes so that i wouldn’t worry of getting hacked. Never connected my iTunes with my paypal or credit card.

I wanted to buy some apps. Can i pay you for the download? We could both benefit from it i guess. Hati tayo.

May maganda kasing app na gustong gusto ko.

Abe Olandres Editor-in-chief · 17 years ago

Hamilton is right. I think it was my Yahoo! Email account that was hacked. Then they used it to retrieve a new password for my iTunes account.

iTunes Customer Support has reversed the charges on my card including all taxes I could have incurred. I should see it in my statements in 2 to 3 days.

That was really quick of them.

Nil A. · 17 years ago

Ever thought that sites like Meebo or eBuddy, that offer multiple and simultaneous access to instant messengers like Yahoo, are password farms?
I’m not saying that Meebo, eBuddy, and/or Trillian are password farms; but, there are a lot of free programs or software out there that allow you to login to Yahoo, AIM, MSN, GTalk, etc and requires you to give them your personal passwords to personal accounts.
Gather all the passwords that they have in their databases and you get world domination. Just kidding!
But think about, if someone gets to hack any of those databases (including those of password farms), they can run a software to collect funds from anybody.
Hmmm… how about yung local na IM agents (mobile or desktop) na pino-provide ng local providers natin dito, mataas kaya security ng password info natin sa kanila.

rogerd · 17 years ago

check this out. yahoo account security breach
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4wzEnG2mOyg

Go · 17 years ago

or it may not be hacked at all. it could just be wrong charges, you know, technical errors. let us know abe when apple replies to you if it was indeed hacking that took place.

Jhay · 17 years ago

Sh*t happens. If it’s any consolation, it’s a good thing the hacker didn’t buy expensive apps or tons of other content.

Trent · 17 years ago

The guy hacked into your account to download the Holy Rosary audiobook? Oh the irony.

Angelo Panares · 17 years ago

This is bad. I once clicked on a link shared by a YM contact and I was brought to a yahoo login page, I logged in and after that there was nothing there. Next thing I knew my yahoo account was already hacked and it was used to spam.

Carefull lang talaga. as Doc Harry said, happens to the best of us. tsk tsk

Andre Marcelo-Tanner · 17 years ago

virus scanner?

also did you look into the possibility of it being an offline intrusion? someone around the house, someone you know? lots of possibilities.

Abe Olandres Editor-in-chief · 17 years ago

The password on my Yahoo email is actually stronger than my GMail. It has alpha-numeric characters.

I was just to lazy or busy to take action when I saw that email from iTunes saying I’ve requested a new password.

Eizan · 17 years ago

Woah scary! And I use my Yahoo! Mail account for PayPal, eepp. O___O

I don’t open my email in outside terminals; only at home.

sylv3rblade · 17 years ago

puro games ang dinl. Wonder how this happened.

Jay · 17 years ago

Unit Price: Free

At LEAST =)

Paul Pisig · 17 years ago

To create a password, include the following:

Capital letter at the beginning, small letters next, then numbers, then special characters like $, #, @, etc.

What’s alarming too is that when I first opened this blog entry, my Norton 360 prompted a warning message that this particular page has a threat. I didn’t read the message thoroughly so I wasn’t able to understand if this page has a spyware, virus, or whatever.

eldie21 · 17 years ago

Di kaya un pagregister mo ng FREETXT na nakikita sa website. Sabihin may FREE LOAD pero wag ka kin0c0pya na un Username at Password. Imagine, kahit ikaw magkaka-IDEA ka na un pagreg mo sa website nila eh un ang pers0nal account. So you better be CAREFOOL. Hahaha piz0ut… CIAO!

Pink · 17 years ago

What?! Grabe naman..

chris · 17 years ago

awts..dapat password mo may mga special char..

BrianB · 17 years ago

So why didn’t the hacker buy a more expensive app?

Fried Pal · 17 years ago

That’s something that I should prevent too. Sayang rin ang perang nawala sayo!

Hamilton Chua · 17 years ago

I think someone hacked your yahoo e-mail account and used that to request for a new password.

I have heard lots of stories about hacked yahoo mail accounts. My own brother’s account was hacked a few months back, we all got e-mail from him that he was stuck somewhere abroad and needed money to get home.

This is really disturbing if you use yahoo mail for things like your paypal account.

I would be interested in any theories as to why Yahoo mail seems to be so prone to being hacked and whether Gmail is more secure.

Is it just a case of weak passwords ?