Another fraudulent developer removed from Apple's App Store

Posted:
in iPod + iTunes + AppleTV edited January 2014
A second case of alleged App Store fraud arose this week, with one developer's travel-related applications seeing strong sales as at least one user claimed their account was hijacked.



The offending applications from developer WiiSHii Network were quickly removed from the App Store after ArsTechnica reported on Friday that its applications were climbing the charts in the travel category. The applications "[EN]GYOYO Shanghai Travel Helper" and "[EN]GYOYO Beijing Travel Helper" cracked the top 10 before they were removed.



A reader sent a copy of their iTunes receipt to show that they were charged a total of $168.89 without their permission. A number of $3.99 purchases were all from seller "Shanghai WiiSHii."



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. The company also advised that users check their iTunes and credit card accounts to ensure they were not charged for anything they did not purchase. Apple noted that confidential customer data is not revealed to developers when users purchase an application.







Apple said that only 400 iTunes accounts were affected in the incident, out of a massive 150 million active users. THe company also said they plan to implement a new security feature to minimize fraud in the future, which would require users to enter their credit card's anti-fraud CCV number more often.
«1

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 31
    daharderdaharder Posts: 1,580member
    At least Apple's trying to weed out the trouble-makers... Futile as that endeavor may ultimately prove to be.
  • Reply 2 of 31
    emulatoremulator Posts: 251member
    Chinks and Ruskies should be banned from any iTunes store.
  • Reply 3 of 31
    icarbonicarbon Posts: 196member
    what about Nigerians?



    can I get an app for being the long-lost heir to a fortune?
  • Reply 4 of 31
    asciiascii Posts: 5,936member
    Perhaps Apple could implement a stronger password policy on the store. Maybe you don't get to type a password but just choose from a list of strong generated ones. This would solve the problem of people who use the same password on multiple sites. But would probably generate a hefty admin workload of people forgetting their passwords, maybe not worth it.
  • Reply 5 of 31
    mac voyermac voyer Posts: 1,294member
    Anymore questions about why Apple has such strict App Store policies? No? Class dismissed.
  • Reply 6 of 31
    sheffsheff Posts: 1,407member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by ascii View Post


    Perhaps Apple could implement a stronger password policy on the store. Maybe you don't get to type a password but just choose from a list of strong generated ones. This would solve the problem of people who use the same password on multiple sites. But would probably generate a hefty admin workload of people forgetting their passwords, maybe not worth it.



    Well done dismissing your own point.



    It would be funny if someone made a Nigerian APP as someone has noted above. I would laugh.
  • Reply 7 of 31
    robin huberrobin huber Posts: 3,949member
    You'd think Apple could employ some kind of robot software that would alert them to these scams as they are developing and flag them for closer human scrutiny instead of relying on outsiders like Ars Technica to blow the whistle.
  • Reply 8 of 31
    robin huberrobin huber Posts: 3,949member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by emulator View Post


    Chinks and Ruskies should be banned from any iTunes store.



    Holy cow, racist much?
  • Reply 9 of 31
    dr millmossdr millmoss Posts: 5,403member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Robin Huber View Post


    Holy cow, racist much?



    Report the post. I did.
  • Reply 10 of 31
    bdkennedy1bdkennedy1 Posts: 1,459member
    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?
  • Reply 11 of 31
    jragostajragosta Posts: 10,473member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by ascii View Post


    Perhaps Apple could implement a stronger password policy on the store. Maybe you don't get to type a password but just choose from a list of strong generated ones. This would solve the problem of people who use the same password on multiple sites. But would probably generate a hefty admin workload of people forgetting their passwords, maybe not worth it.



    A stronger password policy MIGHT help, but not if the passwords were stolen via keyloggers or other methods.



    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.



    Until there's a strong security method like fingerprints which are harder to steal, this will happen. All you can do is work to minimize it.



    Personally, I'd vote for life imprisonment without parole for cybercriminals, including spammers.
  • Reply 12 of 31
    icarbonicarbon Posts: 196member
    I have to admit that I wouldn't mind some degree of regionality for apps -- seperate them by language, and for region-specific apps, allow searching by region! Let the developers designate where their apps go...
  • Reply 13 of 31
    auclaucl Posts: 19member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by emulator View Post


    Chinks and Ruskies should be banned from any iTunes store.



    i'm here in europe and most spam tries to sell me cheap american viagra



    only the money laundry fraud is coming from Africa or recently afghanistan
  • Reply 14 of 31
    ezduzitezduzit Posts: 158member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by aucl View Post


    i'm here in europe and most spam tries to sell me cheap american viagra



    only the money laundry fraud is coming from Africa or recently afghanistan



    we americans get our spam from canadians tying to sell us cheap viagra!
  • Reply 15 of 31
    kstlouiskstlouis Posts: 10member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by ezduzit View Post


    we americans get our spam from canadians tying to sell us cheap viagra!



    Highly doubtful. Considering the amount of viagra and cialis commercials we're seeing on the American channels that we get up here, I'd be more inclined to think that it's coming from your side of the border, not ours. Nice try though, passing on the blame to another country and all. Kind of fitting into the stereotype aren't you?
  • Reply 16 of 31
    icarbonicarbon Posts: 196member
    Why is everyone else's viagra cheaper than their own?
  • Reply 17 of 31
    fahlmanfahlman Posts: 740member
    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.



    Try 1Password, or LastPass.
  • Reply 18 of 31
    robin huberrobin huber Posts: 3,949member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by fahlman View Post


    Try 1Password, or LastPass.



    We have been testing the trial version of 1Password for a month now and like it. When the trial over warning came up today I bought a family pack for both of us. On the other hand, you'd think that something like it would have built in to common OS's by this time.
  • Reply 19 of 31
    kiweekiwee Posts: 102member
    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..
  • Reply 20 of 31
    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?
Sign In or Register to comment.