WASHINGTON, Aug. 26 (UPI) -- Hackers are raiding Apple iTunes accounts and racking up charges on consumer credit cards, a report says.
The hijackers buy iTunes logons from other cyber-criminals and use them to make small purchases before moving on to larger transactions, USA Today said Thursday.
"Any online account that allows the transfer of funds can be a cash cow," said Randy Eset, education director for anti-virus firm ESET.
Apple has about 150 million iTunes users and many of them post credit card or electronic funds information when they make purchases, the report said.
Apple said it can do little to deter hackers, and advises customers to frequently change passwords.
The raiding of iTunes has been occurring for at least a year and jumped significantly after Apple Chief Executive Officer Steve Jobs announced how many users it had in a conference in June, the report said.
One computer expert agreed it is the consumer's responsibility to protect financial information, but he said Apple should use better fraud-detection technology, the report said.
"Ultimately, it is up to the users to safeguard themselves," said Sean-Paul Correll, threat researcher at California's PandaLabs.
