Apple Being Sued For Refusing To Help ITunes Gift Card Scam Victims

[BlueHacker]

“Apple is being sued for allegedly refusing to help those who have fallen victim to a iTunes gift card scam,” reports 9to5Mac, in an article shared by Slashdot reader AmiMoJo:

An 11-count class action lawsuit has been filed against the company. Apple is accused of lying when it says that there is no way to trace or refund the value of the cards…

iTunes gift card scams usually work in a slightly different way, typically being used to buy paid apps owned by the scammers, so they receive 70% of the money when paid by Apple. The lawsuit says that Apple tells scam victims there is nothing that can be done once the money has been spent, but argues that this isn’t true. In fact, Apple holds 100% of the funds for a period of 4-6 weeks, between the apps being purchased and Apple paying the developer. During this time, the company is in a position to refund 100% of the card value. Additionally, Apple takes a 30% commission, so would always be in a position to refund this much, even after the scammer has been paid.
ZDNet quotes the court documents as arguing that Apple “is incentivized to allow the scam to continue because it reaps a 30% commission on all scammed proceeds… knowingly or recklessly, Apple plays a vital role in the scheme by failing to prevent payouts to the scammers.”