Scams are just a representation of the endless greed of a dishonest operator. According to an annual investigation report released by Cyber Intelligence Desk, gift card scams (more like Apple iTunes Gift Card Scam) have been a trend among the fraudulent parties as of now. Unfortunately, the numbers certainly have been increasing day by day. Some were even tempted to believe that they would get insane discounts on their purchase if they followed a particular set of rules and guidelines implemented by the fraudsters.
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What Are iTunes Scams?
Apple iTunes Gift Card Scam has been a popular scam for decades now. Widely known as ‘confidence fraud,’ the term has been rightly coined based on its pattern of operation. The embezzlement plays in a manner that the targeted individual is led to believe that a scammer is a reliable person trying to assist someone in need.
Apple customers either get a call or email requesting the user to share the details of their gift card. The caller either acts as someone working for a religious or charitable purpose. Such excuses make it easy to toy with the target’s emotions and get a quick response. The Apple iTunes gift card comes with a code hidden at the back of the card.
Now there is no way for a provider to link a card to the buyer. It makes it impossible to track the buyer of the card. Further, the scammers make the most out of this loophole, and even the provider “Apple” can’t do much to assist its users.
Hence, financial experts like us step in to reduce and halt such scams. We at Cyber Intelligence Desk receive approximately 800 complaints per day from the Apple iTunes gift card scam victims. They have lost roughly $1.7 billion in total to such scams in 2019. Now, that’s tremendous losses in money.
How Do iTunes Gift Card Scams Work?
The targeted individual attains a call or an email from an unknown and smooth-spoken caller. They claim to be volunteers helping the deprived and charitable organizations. The majority of the targets fall for the act and donate their Apple iTunes gift cards to contribute to the underprivileged. But what if I told you that your donation never reached the ones it was intended for? That would be a disappointment.
In some scenarios, the scammers request the target to buy a retail card and then share details. However, the sad part is that victims fall for that too.
As a consequence of this scam, Apple was also accused of rejecting assistance to its customers. In contrast, Apple kept on insisting that there was nothing they could do to track and identify gift cards and their owners. Countering the same, some experts stated that Apple had the upper hand and should’ve ideally worked on refunding their customers.
Finally, FTC informed the Apple users that callers asking for gift card details and pins are common. Hence, it’s best not to share any information, even if the caller claims to be a family member requesting help through an emergency.
Why Do Scammers Want Apple iTunes Gift Cards?
Asking for an iTunes Gift Card pin is one of the most preferred ways of conducting the Apple iTunes gift card scam. A simple explanation is that the iTunes card numbers are not easy to trace, and once you sell the card numbers to someone, it is tough to trace them back.
Generally, the encrypted codes that these cards come with are relatively challenging to crack. As a result, scammers find it more suitable to obtain codes directly from the cardholder rather than trying to hack the code. Once the fraudulent caller acquires the pin, they resell the cards and make adequate money.
How to Avoid Apple iTunes Gift Card Scams?
Our panel of specialists has devised a set of tips that every individual can depend on:
- Do not answer calls from unknown or spammed numbers
- Report strange calls instantly
- Do not share your financial information or pin
- Do not respond to email Ids that do not seem authentic
- If an operator claims to work for a charitable purpose, verify them first before donating your money. (While your intention might be undeniably true, the opposite party’s might not be so.)
Stay safe with Cyber Intelligence Desk and its preeminent solutions!
What To Do If You Have Been Scammed?
As a safe measure, it is always advisable not to disclose any details regarding your iTunes gift card to unknown persons, especially over the phone or email. Other options include directly reporting to the Federal Trade Commission, which is not a good option because the FTC might not entertain such small requests. The best option is to contact a fund recovery agency that can deal with the chaos correctly.
Cyber Intelligence Desk is an investigative and consultative expert that handles your case for you. We don’t differentiate between our clients based on the amount of money lost or any other grounds. Instead, we put equal efforts into studying the crime and resolving our client’s concerns.
If you’ve lost your money, don’t stress yourself, we can recover it for you. We sincerely dedicate and help our clients get their money back as soon as possible, regardless of whether you are an organization or an individual. We have dealt with scams like forex trading and binary online scams, and we are sure that we can assist you through any other online scams.
You can check out our website to learn about our competent team, exceptional track record, and 100% result-driven solutions. It is proof that we excel in what we do.
Cyber Intelligence Desk is a superior fund recovery establishment, performing marvelously within its area of the undertaking. Despite the Apple iTunes gift card scam posing an acute threat, We managed to recover an extensive portion of the funds. We are delighted to be our customer’s number one choice, with a total of 800 complaints on similar scams reaching out to us each day.