Another developer apparently banned for fraudulent purchases
Different day, different app category, but it sure seems like deja vu. At least one iTunes customer has reported that he received purchase receipts for apps he didn’t buy. However, all mentions of the offending developer and his apps have already been removed from the store.
Ars Technica reports WiiSHii Network, a developer mostly of Chinese city travel guides, apparently hacked iTunes user accounts to make bogus purchases of his apps which in turn drove the apps up the sales charts.
[A] reader Harper Reed contacted us to detail the problem. His account was used earlier today to purchase 34 of WiiSHii Network’s apps without his permission, for a total of $168.89. The apps appear to mostly be travel guides for cities in China, and come in both English and Chinese versions—oddly enough, Reed ostensibly bought both.
The apps were all or nearly all prefixed by the word “GYOYO” and held down a number of spots in the travel app section for a day or less. Now, all mention of WiiSHii and GYOYO have been removed from the iTunes App Store.
As of this writing it’s unknown if Reed’s and other victims’ customers’ accounts have been credited for the bogus purchases.
Enough is enough
Last weekend, a Vietnamese developer used the same or a similar hack + fraudulent purchases to drive his apps to the top of the store’s books section. That developer and his apps have been removed, and customer accounts credited for the bogus purchases.
However, in the previous case, purchases made with the customers’ own iTunes gift cards were not be credited. It’s currently unclear if WiiSHii also used victims’ own gift card codes to purchase songs and whether or not Apple has returned the funds.
Fool Apple once, shame on you. Fool Apple twice, shame on Apple…
What’s your take?
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