Chinese products are already famous for their low price. Now, China is again in the market with Apple iTunes. Here too they are following their low price principle. Confused right? A report appeared in China’s GlobalTimes.com reveals that TaoBao.com, China’s largest online auction site, is selling around 50,000 iTunes accounts linked to stolen credit cards. Now the picture is clear I think.

It is Zou Le, a reporter for the Chinese Global Times who broke the story. Zou Le paid $5 for an iTunes username and password, and got access to credit card details and the address of an American iTunes customer. The accounts cost anywhere from 1 yuan (US$0.15) to 200 yuan (US$30) and are credited with $200. Even more suspect, the product descriptions warn users to use up their iTunes credit within 24 hours of purchasing on TaoBao, according to the report.

The report also assured GlobalTimes.com that the hacked accounts were safe for use in China because the accounts were linked to overseas credit card numbers. Thousands have been bought through the site in the last few months.

While TaoBao said that it was not required to remove the listings because it had not received any direct complaints about the sales. This Chinese company is having one of the country’s biggest internet success stories. It has more than 200 million users and is believed to have sold around 400 billion yuan (£38bn) of goods in the last year alone.

It is not the first time that users of the service have been targeted by fraudsters. In recent years the iTunes store has become an alluring target for criminals. Last summer an e-mail scam that targeted iTunes and PayPal left some victims facing credit card bills for thousands of pounds. At the time, Apple increased security checks to safeguard against fraud, and told users to be vigilant for signs of unauthorised activity.

However, Apple, which recently stepped up iTunes’ security after a series of break-ins, declined to comment. However the company has warned users in recent months to safeguard their personal details.

Via BBC