China consumer group raps Apple after ID thefts
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[October 19, 2018]
SHANGHAI (Reuters) - A Chinese
consumer body has criticised iPhone maker Apple Inc over a recent data
security issue which impacted a number of consumers in China who said
they had suffered financial losses after having their Apple IDs stolen.
Apple said earlier this month that an internal investigation had found
that a "small number of our users' accounts were accessed through
phishing scams where two-factor authentication was not enabled".
The U.S. company, which makes and sells huge numbers of its products in
China, added the issue had also led to a rise in "false and fraudulent
refund claims trying to take advantage of this incident."
The China Consumer Association said in a statement on its website that
Apple should not shirk its responsibility and should compensate
consumers in full.
"Apple should not shift the blame, play down its own safety issues and
divert consumers' attention," the association said. The case was
trending in the top 10 most-read topics on China's Twitter-like social
media platform Weibo on Friday.
The issue is a potential headache for Apple in the world's
second-largest economy, with the U.S. firm already facing a potentially
tough balancing act in the country amid a whipsawing trade war between
the United States and China.
Chinese mobile payment platform Alipay said last week that hackers had
taken an unknown amount of money from user accounts using stolen Apple
IDs and the issue remained unresolved despite reaching out to the U.S.
firm.
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A man uses his phone to take pictures outside an Apple store in
Beijing, China July 28, 2016. REUTERS/Thomas Peter
Apple declined to comment further on Friday, referring back to its
earlier statement on the matter.
"We regret the inconvenience caused to our customers by these phishing
scams," the firm said in that statement.
"We are proactively identifying suspicious activities and reaching out
to affected customers. We strongly advise all users to enable two-factor
authentication, which prevents unauthorized access to their accounts."
Apple added it was communicating with "relevant consumer agencies and
listening to customer feedback about those changes".
Apple was chastised by Chinese state media in July for the amount of
spam being sent on iMessage, with media saying with the company's strict
stance on privacy was hindering its ability to crack down on illegal
behaviour.
(Reporting by Adam Jourdan; Editing by Christopher Cushing)
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