Tracy Davidson

Early Sunday, suspicious activity in the Apple App Store prompted customer complaints and technology sleuths to discover an inexplicable rise in sales of Vietnamese-language books, seemingly pirated, in both the App and Apple iTunes stores. The hackers, burned customers reported, were hijacking their accounts and purchasing a large number of these apps, resulting in charges between $40 and $600 to their accounts. Those whose accounts were linked to prepaid Apple gift cards got off the easiest; many with accounts linked to debit or credit cards were left without immediate recourse.