Apple accounts getting hacked

APPLE is no different than any other online account you may have. Be very careful to set up the account with the most secure password possible. Combinations of numbers/letters/CAPS/lowercase & special characters makes it extremely difficult for hackers. It's those who:

1. use simple and short passwords
2. use the same password EVERYWHERE
3. never change passwords

who are most at risk. Unfortunately, too often people have that "It'll never happen to me" mentality.

Be serious about password protection and pay attention to your bank and CC accounts on a regular basis.

Yep had the same thing happen to me a few weeks ago. I got a receipt from Apple itunes showing about 8 items that were purchased. Like bucky, Apple was very profesional about the whole thing and it was cleard up within hours. Some of the receipts were in Japenese. Who knows what they said!

IMHO do NOT give your card for "auto debit" to pay any bills.

This is where the trouble lies. With the onset of bill paying on line it is so simple to just go on line and pay them monthly. This way 'you' have to enter all the personal info manually and after the transaction it is not stored on their server with ALL your info intact.

When I signed on for a sprint account the Sprint store strongly suggested I do NOT sign up for auto debit. That should tell you something!

UHaul rental is the biggest offender. I rented a truck. The card is swiped for the one time transaction, no info should be stored. Unknowingly to the public UHaul automatically takes all your card info and stores it available for anyone working at Uhaul to use it. In my case they did, which is how I discovered their practice.

I've been on the phone with them for 6 months, its built into their system. Even if you make the darn clerk delete it from the on line reciept.....you can go to the next UHAUL seven states away and they have it on file and don't even ask you for your card for your purchase, they push a button and your card is charged!!

As these hackers get better and criminal employees seeing how easy it is to steal, I see big problems coming down the pike with using debit cards and credit cards on line. Or in my case using it for any purchase from a company.:(

The bad guys are getting better and better at breaking into password protected accounts. Apple's iTunes and App stores are a rather large target, and certain to attract much more attention than most of the other vendors from which you buy things online.

One of the really big problems is the use of easily guessed passwords. People use them because they can remember them, but they make your accounts vulnerable. I know how frustrating it can be to try to get passwords all squared away, but it is important, especially for sites with high profiles, which are going to attract all kinds of attempts to break in. But if you use a guessable password, sooner or later one of the nogoodniks will discover it.

I highly recommend using one of the password managers that make your passwords instantly available on your computer. This allows you to use strong passwords without having to remember them. And it reduces your risk to the theft of your computer or the hacking into it, risks smaller and easier for you to control. This also requires you to make sure your anti-virus software is up to date at all times, not a bad idea in itself.

I don't know how the OPs account was breached, although the odds are somebody guessed his password. But yes, you do need to pay attention to your credit card statements. A couple years ago I found a charge on mine I didn't recognize, and upon investigation found that somebody had somehow managed to charge something to a credit card number I'd had ten years earlier. Of course, that number had been changed/upgraded, but somehow "the system" decided it was still mine, and tried to apply it to my current account. The credit card company was quick to remove it, but only after I called them on it.

It is important for everyone to be vigilant. Your credit card bills, even your phone bill, are all vulnerable to all manner of scams. You need to check each of them every month, and if you see a charge you don't recognize, call them and inquire. You might have forgotten a legit charge, but you might also be saving yourself from a scam. And of course, if you don't nip it in the bud, you can count of the number of fraudulent charges multiplying each month until you do call them.