BBC News - Apple bans 'fraudulent' developer from iTunes

Apple bans 'fraudulent' developer from iTunes

Page last updated at 10:36 GMT, Wednesday, 7 July 2010 11:36 UK

400 of the 150 million iTunes accounts were hacked.

Apple has banned a Vietnamese developer from its app store after he was implicated in fraudulently pushing his titles to its best-seller list.

According to Apple, Thuat Nguyen hacked around 400 iTunes accounts, in order to use their credit card details to boost sales of his comic book apps.

Apple said it had tightened its security as a result of the hack.

It has put fraudulent activity on iTunes into the spotlight.

Small percentage

At one point Mr Nguyen's apps occupied 42 of the top 50 book apps sold.

In a statement Apple said that the developer and his apps have been removed from the iTunes store "for violating the developer Program License Agreement including fraudulent purchase patterns".

"The iTunes servers were not compromised. An extremely small percentage of users, 400 of the 150 million iTunes users, were impacted," it said.

It recommended that people worried that their credit card had been stolen should contact their financial institution and change their account password.

Apple said that its iTunes servers were not compromised but it has stepped up security.

Bogus book

Read more...
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/10535703.stm

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