iTunes Phishing Scam

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Macworld are reporting that iTunes users are the targets of a new phishing scam.

Phishers have targeted users of Apple's iTunes music store with sophisticated identity theft attacks for the first time, a security company said Tuesday.

People began receiving spammed messages Monday telling them that they must correct a problem with their iTunes account, said Andrew Lochart, an executive with email security vendor Proofpoint.

A link in the spam leads to a site posing as an iTunes billing update page; that phony page asks for information including credit card number and security code, Social Security number and mother's maiden name.

The theft attempt is a new twist on the usual phishing attack, said Lochart. "We've gotten used to seeing the usual companies and brands attacked," he said, "like PayPal, eBay and Citibank. But we've never seen Apple as the target."

I received one of these emails myself on Monday. It arrived shortly after I placed an order on iTunes for a TV Show, House, and I initially thought it was legitimate. However a quick look at the url's in the email told me that this was a scam. For those interested I gave advice on spotting phishing scams in an article here.

Are We Being Neglected By US Software Companies?

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The more times I visit the .com version of major US company's websites the more I feel that we are being shortchanged here in the UK. For example today on the Microsoft.com site there were links to downloads and deals for Vista owners, free help to setup a new business and ways to work with slower Internet connections. The Microsoft.co.uk site on the other hand had a pixilated looking set of Vista graphics with the headline "Introducing Windows Vista" and then links to a security updates and a trial for Office 2007. You can't seriously be telling me that the same amount of effort goes into the two sites. Windows Vista has been out for over a year! We don't need introduced to it yet again. Come on Microsoft give us the same level of effort at least on your site, it's bad enough that we have yet to see any sign of the Zune over here and those of  us who do own it can't get any help with problems. There's a reason I now own an iPod Touch and Shuffle.

This isn't limited to Microsoft however. There are other companies that have a difference between the US and UK version of the sites and the UK versions are nearly always lacking the information and quality of the .com site.

Looking beyond site differences and to prices and we saw from Apple's iTunes the overcharging that was going on at this side of the pond. The basic Macbook comes in at $1099 (£550 approximately) from the Apple.com store. The same Macbook on the Apple.com\uk store comes in at a surprising $1395 (£699 approximately).

It's difficult not to get fed up with uneven pricing, differing standards in websites and lack of assistance and I wonder just how many other people over here feel the same way as I do.

22hundred.net Affiliations

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Hey everyone,

As you will see 22hundred.net has changed over the last week or so. I've made, what I hope you agree, are improvements to the site's design, layout and content. 22hundred has also become an affiliate of some well known and very successful companies such as Dell, Game, Amazon, Apple's iTunes, PC World and Carphone Warehouse. Please feel free to browse the products on display and purchase whatever takes your fancy. Remember all purchases are through the retailer and not through 22hundred. I'm just showing you the fantastic products that are on offer.

3rd Piece of News: iTunes Movie Rentals

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Touchstone, Miramax, Lions Gate, Paramount, Universal, Song, Walt Disney, Fox, Warner Brothers and more have signed up to movie rentals on iTunes. Hope the UK is actually going get this major feature sooner rather than later. Launches today by free iTunes, iPhone and iPod update. $3.99 for new movies, launched 30 days after the DVD, and $2.99 for older titles. 30 days to watch a movie and 24 hours to finish it. That's not bad I suppose. I usually only watch films once and they cost £15 or so each.

This will lead to Apple TV2. In fact he's talking about it now. No computer needed anymore. Direct rental from your TV. Watch audio/video podcasts, view photos from Flickr or computer and You Tube. Basically all iTunes content is available for download. Full DVD and HD quality with surround sound. Completely new interface as well. You know this doesn't seem like the hobby he described it as last year. Maybe Microsoft 360 and PS3 in the living room has worried him.

Macworld predictions

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Here are my predictions for what is going to be announced in today's keynote.

1. Apple TV2

2. Movies on iTunes

3. iPhone SDK

4. Slimmer Notebooks/Tablets

5. Takeover of Adobe (hence the Air reference).

6. Best sales figures ever

7. Number of iTunes downloads/iPhone users/iPod users

8. Apple takeover by Google (probably not but live in hope)!