Apple charging us 230.00 via O2 - fraud

[MerryMarigold]

DS's phone bill came through this month. It had 230.00 of charges for itunes, which turned out to be Roblox purchases. DS does not have an iPhone, itunes and does he play Roblox. In fact, the only Apple device in our house is Dh's work phone. The time the transaction happened DS was at home, not with any friends, but anyway he's 14 and very sensible. He would never give a friend a code to spend unlimited money. There is a text with a code on it sent to DS's phone.

Apple are refusing to refund, O2 claim it's not their problem as it's a third party issue - and we don't know where to go from here. We assume his phone was somehow hacked. Is that possible? Surely it can't be the first time it's happened to anyone.

It's so much money 😭.

We don't know what to do next. It's not something we've ever come across before.

I mean, sometimes teenagers lie! If he has the code and you know he plays roblox, it stands to reason that it was probably him.

Ps. I totally trust DS on this. He was totally confused when we asked him about it. He doesn't remember even seeing the message with the code on it, although it was open when Dh searched through his phone. He was at home as it was sent through around 10pm on a Friday night. He's a pretty mature, sensible kid.

Can you purchase things on iTunes from a non-apple phone?

Did you mean to say he doesn't play Roblox?

Yes. You can log into iTunes on the internet. You don’t need an iPhone to do it

Yes, I meant to say he DOESN'T okay Roblox. He just plays chess on the computer and phone. He's not that into gaming.

Doesn't PLAY! Fish, I'm so upset, my spelling's gone. He's definitely not lying.

His computer is in main living area and he is not allowed his phone in his room. We have strict policies on tech in bedrooms so he can't be playing anything secretly.

Originally when Dh got in touch about this, they checked the user name of the Roblox account and it didn't match DS anyway. They said they would refund but now they've changed their mind and just say, "It's not Apple policy." I'm sure they could easily check the phone or device ID of the person who is actually playing Roblox - and who that device ID is registered to, couldn't they?

Does he have an iTunes account? Can you see what account it is?

I googled quickly and came accross this..
Similar but no solution....

https://community.o2.co.uk/t5/Pay-Monthly/iTunes-suddenly-being-charged-to-my-02-account-Haven-t-bought/td-p/1364310

Has he got an iTunes account?

No he doesn't have an itunes account and neither do any of us in our house.

Sorry, cross posted. I'm just trying to work out how the payment was taken.

What does the text with the code say?

Any emails from that date also? Check junk as well

Thanks. At least that issue was 48.00, which I wouldn't be happy with. But 230.00! I feel a bit sick.

What did the text message say... was that a Phishing scam?

We can't see what itunes account it is as it's all been charged through O2. Itunes wouldn't give us the name of the account. They just asked DS name and it didn't match.

Speak with your bank, they will have a fraud team who can look into this for you & attempt to get your money back. That being said, having the code from the text would have to be shared surely to make the purchase so either son has shared this or yes the phone could have been hacked. I would be asking lots of questions to son regarding links clicked & people spoken with etc. Roblox has a chat service, has he been speaking to someone on it? Bank needs to determine the point of compromise to help so very important your son is honest. Even if he had shared the code/allowed someone access it doesn't mean the bank won't pay so it's really important he is honest with any links clicked/any info shared etc

I realise now you said he doesn't play Roblox but has he shared his info potentially which has compromised his info on another service. Bank will have more access re IP address/device used etc

Sounds like maybe he’s been the victim of a phishing scam. Does he remember a “friend” texting him asking for help and needing a code? My sons friend was hacked hacker then sent a message to my son (appearing to be the friend) saying he needed some help and could he send a code through. Code resulted in my son also being hacked.

id definitely contact your bank or credit card provider and report it as fraud.

Thanks so much. Will the bank deal with it if it was paid through O2 rather than directly through them?

In terms of details... It would only be his phone number which lots of people have. He has face ID on his actual phone but there wouldn't be a password on his messages. The code came through on text. The phone is registered to DH not DS.

You said the message had been opened on messages? Who had opened it?

Not sure. Could have been DS who then dismissed it as spam. He couldn't remember opening it. It was sent on 21st April. Or, if a phone is hacked, does it show as 'read'? The code was somehow read and used. I asked him about phishing and he said, "I'm not that stupid, Mum." It's so so odd. Dh is very careful, so there was a block on the phone for any extra charges (ask the kids phones have this block). However, this huge amount never required authorization from the account holder.

What is also annoying is that Apple are happy to charge us but not share the details of the itunes account with us. If it's our account, they're just telling us our own account details. If it's not our account, and it's subject to data protection, then it's fraud.

Hi Op, just wondering what happened with this, we’ve had a similar experience recently where my DS wracked up 300 pounds on in app purchases and we feel physically sick 🤢

@biggreentree
Did your ds actually buy the in-app purchases?

No he didn't. We have no idea who did, or how they hacked his phone. It took place when he was at home. We eventually got half of it refunded but just had to accept the rest was gone.