Suit Against Apple Over Gift Card Scams Gets Go-Ahead

Image via Apple

17 JUNE 2022 - A case against Apple over gift card scams has been given a go-ahead in court. You’ve probably heard of these scams: Somebody calls a victim, claiming to be from the IRS or some other official entity. They say there’s a problem with the victim’s account - something wrong with their taxes, they’re behind in utility bills and the power’s about to be cut, law enforcement is on the way to arrest them for some reason… they freak the mark out, then tell them they can fix it by buying Apple gift-cards (store cards or iTunes) and giving the caller the info on the cards. The bad guys then use the cards, either buying goods at Apple Stores that they can turn around and resell, or buying apps on the App Store in which they have an interest, collecting 70% of the cost of the app once Apple pays out. The victims, of course, are left victimized - out however much money for which they were taken.

Did Apple do this? No. But, a piece from 9 to 5 Mac says plaintiffs in the case argue that Apple benefits from the scams and could do more to protect the victims. The report says Apple filed to have the case dismissed for a number of reasons, starting with the fact that cards sold clearly say “no refunds.” That did not wash with the judge hearing the case. According to the report:

U.S. District Judge Edward Davila dismissed some of the claims from a class of plaintiffs that said Apple aided in the fraudulent schemes, but he did say plaintiffs plausibly alleged the company did receive some of the proceeds from the fraud and failed to appropriately reimburse the victims. 

“The next stage in the case will be discovery,” according to the report, “where Apple will be required to hand over relevant information about how it handles these scams.” No word in the piece on a timeline for the case.