Another fraudulent developer removed from Apple's App Store

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  • Reply 21 of 31
    robin huberrobin huber Posts: 4,082member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by The Madcapper View Post


    So what's to stop shady developers from using accounts that they "gain access to" to boost the sales of a competitor and get them removed from the app store?



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by kiwee View Post


    Has anyone thought about this problem this way.



    Say I'm a developer. I have a few applications on the App Store.

    However, my competition also has a number of apps and they sell better than mine.



    I buy a few hijacked accounts from the website everyone is talking about and buy the shit out of my competitions apps.



    Users complain to Apple that their accounts have been hijacked.

    Apple responds and assumes that my competition is doing the deed and quickly remove all of his applications.



    My apps are left getting all the purchases.



    Would not be that hard to do..



    Great minds think alike. But seriously, that's why we have fraud investigators. Trust me, both law enforcement and crooks are aware of such turnabout shenanigans and have been sparring over them since crime began. Apple just needs to beef up that part of their security operations.
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  • Reply 22 of 31
    asciiascii Posts: 5,936member
    Why not just spend all the effort making a good app in the first place? That's how to make a real killing.
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  • Reply 23 of 31
    Names names...

    http://thenextweb.com/apple/2010/07/...e-hack-itunes/



    Says more widespread

    http://thenextweb.com/apple/2010/07/...e-hack-itunes/



    Plus this backgrounder with more details



    http://thenextweb.com/apple/2010/07/...-store-hacked/







    And Apple apparently pulled the job posting for a fraud prevention specialist



    http://9to5mac.com/itunes-fraud-prevention-specialist
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  • Reply 24 of 31
    doorman.doorman. Posts: 159member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by fahlman View Post


    Try 1Password, or LastPass.



    Why not to use FireFox built in Password manager. Use Master password and you are safe.

    Only feature is missing is to generate complex paasswords. However, I certain there is a plug in for this.
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  • Reply 25 of 31
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by AppleInsider View Post


    The incident came just days after another developer took over 40 of the top 50 spots in the App Store's books category. Developer Thuat Nguyen, who listed his publishing company as "mycompany" with a website of "Home.com," was accused of boosting his sales with hacked iTunes accounts, tied to users' credit card numbers.



    Apple responded quickly to say that it had removed the offending developer from the App Store, as well as his applications.



    Can we agree to stop calling the people behind these incidents "developers"? It sounds like racketeering to me. Nothing about "mycompany" sounds remotely legitimate...the whole thing was setup to steal money through iTunes.
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  • Reply 26 of 31
    hirohiro Posts: 2,663member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by SailorPaul View Post


    ...

    And Apple apparently pulled the job posting for a fraud prevention specialist



    http://9to5mac.com/itunes-fraud-prevention-specialist



    Gee, maybe that means they hired one??? Or promoted/reassigned someone who in the past week showed a talent that hadn't been exercised before? Filling the position is what the posting was for in the first place...
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  • Reply 27 of 31
    hirohiro Posts: 2,663member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Suddenly Newton View Post


    Can we agree to stop calling the people behind these incidents "developers"? It sounds like racketeering to me. Nothing about "mycompany" sounds remotely legitimate...the whole thing was setup to steal money through iTunes.



    Well they are paid developers and they have posted apps, showing they know how to code and package apps for distribution -- all things developers do. They are just doing them to get access to new victims. The terminology's not worth getting worked up over.
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  • Reply 28 of 31
    melgrossmelgross Posts: 33,713member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by bdkennedy1 View Post


    You know what I'm getting really sick of? Scrolling through non-American apps. What the hell is a U.K. weather program doing in the U.S. app store?



    I know it's annoying at times, but I find it useful. My daughter goes to university in the UK, and I get to visit here and there, as does my wife. I've got two programs for the Tube, and another for restaurants and other useful sights.



    It's much easier to look through them here, at leisure, and then buy them, then wait until you're there and have to do it in a hurry, and that's even assuming that you can buy off the UK store with a USA account, which I'm not sure you can do, as the USA store shows up on my phone when I'm there.
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  • Reply 29 of 31
    melgrossmelgross Posts: 33,713member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by SailorPaul View Post




    And Apple apparently pulled the job posting for a fraud prevention specialist



    http://9to5mac.com/itunes-fraud-prevention-specialist



    Usually, once you fill a position, you pull the Ad.
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  • Reply 30 of 31
    jragostajragosta Posts: 10,473member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by kiwee View Post


    Has anyone thought about this problem this way.



    Say I'm a developer. I have a few applications on the App Store.

    However, my competition also has a number of apps and they sell better than mine.



    I buy a few hijacked accounts from the website everyone is talking about and buy the shit out of my competitions apps.



    Users complain to Apple that their accounts have been hijacked.

    Apple responds and assumes that my competition is doing the deed and quickly remove all of his applications.



    My apps are left getting all the purchases.



    Would not be that hard to do..



    It's actually easier to get your own app into the top 10 - legitimately.



    The most interesting thing about this entire story is how few purchases it takes to move your app to the top of the list. 400 stolen accounts was enough. So, instead of spending $100 on stolen accounts, you could spend $400 by having a $0.99 special on your app and then give 400 people $1 to try your app.
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  • Reply 31 of 31
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by jragosta View Post


    And don't start with demanding a new password for every site. I probably have over 100 password protected sites. If I didn't reuse passwords on at least some of them, I'd spend my whole life clicking on 'forget password?' links.



    It's been a little while, but why not?



    People need to use different passwords for websites tied to financial capabilities. Having your AppleInsider account hacked is quite a different beast from having your Amazon, iTunes, or bank account hacked. That can result in material loss, or worse. There's no excuse for using duplicate passwords on such sites, and should the loss of a password somewhere else result in a compromise, there should be no expectation of sympathy.



    As for managing so many passwords? There are handy tools like 1Password, which can tie in beautifully between computers and even your mobile phone. I'm sure there are similar solutions across other platforms. Just search for them.



    *And I use the 'hacked' term loosely here. Most of these people losing their passwords (actually, it seems all of them in the iTunes cases) have lost their passwords due to the likes of phishing schemes. Ultimately, the customer must protect themselves from dangers such as this.
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