Massachusetts Attorney General, Victim of iTunes Fraud

chicksdaddy writes "Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley said on Tuesday that her office would be inquiring into long-standing complaints about fraudulent purchases that leverage Apple's popular online music store. Coakley was herself a victim of identity theft in recent months, telling the audience that her stolen credit card information was used to make fraudulent iTunes purchases. When asked (by a Threatpost reporter) about whether such fraud constitutes a reportable event under the Bay State's strict data breach notification law, 201 CMR 17, Coakley said that her office would be looking into that question and demanding answers from Cupertino, which has steadfastly refused to respond to media requests regarding user reports about fraudulent iTunes purchases, and which has not reported the breaches to Massachusetts regulators."

Obviously

[Anonymous Coward]

Only now that she was affected does she look into it. It didn't matter that everyone else was.

Could be the only way to get the law changed

[SleazyRidr]

Attack the Attornies General so they realise how the real world works and kick up enough stink to get the laws we need.

Im confused

[Altus]

I could see, if her identity was stolen from the records that apple has, how the new laws would apply to Apple. But her identity was stolen from elsewhere and then her credit card used to purchase stuff from Apple. I can't really see how Apple has anything to do with it. Would you go after Shell if someone used a stolen card to buy some gas?

Sure, dell stopped the purchase of a multi hundred dollar computer, but should Apple have to check ever 99 cent transaction? I don't even have to sign receipts most places if the total is under 20 bucks. If she canceled the card, isn't that her banks fault?

The data breach laws seem like a good thing, its important that Apple and others protect information about their customers against theft, but her identity was stolen during a ski trip to New Hampshire. That doesn't seem like it has anything to do at all with Apple or iTunes.

Breach by Apple???

[superdave80]

...her stolen credit card information was used to make fraudulent iTunes purchases. When asked (by Threatpost) about whether such fraud constitutes a reportable event under the Bay State's strict data breach notification law, Coakley said that her office would be looking into that question and demanding answers from Cupertino,...

Huh? How is this a 'breach' by Apple? Her credit card was stolen by somebody, and then used to buy something from iTunes. Apple wasn't hacked into; they processed what looked to be a valid credit card transaction.

Re:Im confused

[oboylet]

This happened to me as well. A series of mysterious iTunes charges popped up all over my CC statement, totaling hundreds of dollars. The charges all show up as "1800-APPLE-XYZ" or some such. Call up that number, and there's a recording that refers you to itunes.com/cc (or whatever). On that site, it refers you to the useless 1800 number. When I contacted my credit card's fraud hotline they said they had been having all sorts of problems with fraudulent charges at iTunes. Mysterious charges, and they (Chase) could get no answers from Apple. Since Apple wouldn't reverse the charges, I had to file a fraud claim, and get a new card. A big hassle for me. By the way, this was in the Spring of 2010. IANAL, but if there is a history of fraudulent activity and the vendor has ignored it, then yes, I'd say they have some responsibility "to check every 99 cent transaction."