If iTunes is ancient history for many Apple customers, its memory lives on through a years-old business. The former flagship platform, where it was possible to download music, movies, series and applications, was also used by unscrupulous people to scam thousands of victims.
Faced with this well-known problem, Apple – which also mentions it on its site – would not have sufficiently secured its system and would even have received part of the diverted sum.
Several hundred million dollars
Specifically, one victim was contacted by email or phone and asked to purchase iTunes gift cards to fulfill an urgent need, such as paying bills. Once the cards were in her possession, the victim was asked to provide the codes to the scammer, who could then add them to her own account and then request a real money refund from Apple.
But in this transaction, the American company took the opportunity to charge 30% of the total amount on the card, converting the rest into dollars. This represents “hundreds of millions of dollars” between 2015 and 2020, authorities explained.
A situation that has earned Apple an investigation for several years, and whose latest attempts to end a trial failed in June 2022. At that time, the brand had stated that the notice that stipulated not to deliver the card code gift to a stranger (on the card itself) was enough to avoid processing. The judge decided otherwise, sending the various parties back to the negotiating table.
A few months later, the American company announced that it had reached an agreement within the framework of mediation, which must still be validated by a federal judge.
Details such as the amount of the settlement with the victims and the government have not yet been decided. In theory, this could allow victims to receive a refund from Apple, at least in the United States.
Source: BFM TV
