Fraud on iTunes leads to app developer ban

If you’re into buying ebooks on the App Store to read on your Apple gadgets, you may well have noticed that developer Thuat Nguyen has held 42 of the top 50 book app positions on the platform for some time. “Thuat who?” I hear you ask. Exactly; it’s hardly Penguin we’re talking about here.

Apple have now conceded that numerous iTunes accounts may have been hacked, leading to fraudulent sales of apps that have pushed Thuat Nguyen into the upper echelons of the charts. Some even suggest to the tune of $1 million dollars.

After isolating some 400-odd hacked accounts, Apple have now banned the rogue developer for violating the Developer Program License Agreement.

“If your credit card or iTunes password is stolen and used on iTunes we recommend that you contact your financial institution and inquire about cancelling the card and issuing a chargeback for any unauthorized transactions,” reads an Apple statement.

Certainly Apple have responded in the correct manner to the offence, but how long were such suspicious activities going on under their very noses? And do they not have a responsibility to their customers to act at speed when their sensitive data is quite obviously at risk, rather than it take some spurious sales to get alarm bells ringing?

It may have only affected 400 out of iTune’s 150 million daily users, but it makes you wonder just how isolated a case this is.