iPhone maker Apple has opted to settle a major class action lawsuit that accused the company of gaining benefits through iTunes Gift card scams.
The Cupertino firm will reportedly draft a $1.8 million payment after it was alleged that the firm was well aware of scammers exploiting gift cards owned by the company, with the tech giant keeping a huge chunk of the stolen revenue for itself.
The scam was reported to involve fraud experts who opted to instill worry and a sense of urgency among users through the phone that they needed to purchase the iTunes gift cards if they wished to pay off taxes. The same was the case for gift cards related to the Apple Store.
The money would also be used to cover debts, hospital bills, or charges linked to utilities.
Victims were informed about sharing codes on the card’s back, despite warnings generated across cards that requested them not to share codes with any other person they knew.
As per the complaint lodged in this manner, the iPhone maker was seen depositing just 70% of the funds stolen into the account owned by the fraudster while the iPhone maker kept its 30% share as a means of commission, knowing very well how those were dollars generated by stolen code conversion.
The legal case was said to cover all US citizens who purchased gift cards during the 2015 to 2020 period where the products could be traded in at any of Apple’s App or iTunes stores, followed by the provision of codes to fraudsters, and then a lack of funds received from the company despite following all the steps they had outlined.
The plaintiffs were recorded speaking about how they didn’t get any proceeds. Meanwhile, the Judge heading the case ruled how the company failed in terms of giving out proper returns to the victims.
The decision mentioned how Apple benefitted from the scam and knew very well what it was getting into. Therefore, it can determine which accounts were scammed and which ones redeemed them. Despite this, it was noted as saying that there was nothing it could do which was not true.
This is just one of the prime examples of how sophisticated scams involving tech giant Apple are growing as we speak. Another one had to do with users designing apps through the App Store and then utilizing gift cards to buy certain products through apps they could control. Watching how Apple allows all of this to take place and even benefits from a 30% commission just goes to show how ignorant the firm has become and therefore it must be brought to justice, the plaintiffs argued.
Further arguments on the case involved how the company has full access to gift card codes that were stolen, especially when an alert is generated for theft. And that should stop any purchases from getting through or deactivating suspicious activity on accounts through the app. They similarly mentioned how all the stolen cards need to be reimbursed to put an end to the scam completely.
Seeing the court find Apple guilty of knowingly participating in such scams is worrying and must be addressed immediately and that’s why we’re seeing the tech giant promptly draft out a settlement to close the lawsuit, once and for all.
After all, it’s not a great impression to know that one of the world’s most valuable firms has been taking part in scams, right?
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