ITunes Store Fraud Panic? Don't Panic!

Today, I discovered a couple of unauthorized $1 Apple iTunes Store charges pending on my American Express card. I visited my iTunes Store account page and found no reference to any recent charges. (Typically, when I tried to click on the "Report A Problem" button, all it did was disappear. Actually, what it does is enable other links to allow you to report a problem with specific items on the "recent purchases" list, but it's both subtle and not what I wanted.)

I immediately cleared the credit card info from my iTunes account and went back to Amex to see what I could do about challenging the charges. "Pending charges can not be contested," is the Amex reply.

Hmm. A quick check with daughter reveals that she hadn't downloaded anything without first checking with Dear Old Dad.

Was I being set up to be the next victim of the ongoing scam? [link to NY Times story]

I Googled around for a bit to check on what to do, and finally found this, buried at the Apple web site:

As with many other merchants, the iTunes Store and Mac App Store places an authorization hold on your payment card account for the approximate amount of any purchase you make. Similarly, if you update your billing information, the iTunes Store or Mac App Store will place an authorization hold on your payment card account, usually in the amount of 1 USD, to verify your account information. (emphasis added)

You might see such authorization requests on your online statement. These requests are not actual charges; they are tests to confirm that your payment card account is active and has available funds to accommodate transactions. Authorization holds are removed by your financial institution shortly after your purchase clears. The amount of time it takes to remove authorization requests varies by financial institution...

Yep, in fact prompted by Apple's recent introduction of "2 Step Verification," I had made some changes to my account a week or so ago. OK then, no problem. Time to re-enter the card info at iTunes and move on my merry way.

Hey Apple! It would be good - in light of all the fraud and scams surrounding the iTunes Store - if you reminded people of your policy at the time that they make these changes!

Lost ...and Found

A news story today caught my eye, and made me smile

A man accidentally forgot his iPad on an airline flight. An honest and helpful departing passenger found it, and brought it to the less honest flight attendant, who took his iPad to her home and promptly made it her iPad. But the man who lost the iPad used the built-in "Find My iPad" option to zero in on it's location. He called the cops in her hometown, they went to the address he gave them, grabbed the iPad and arrested the crook. [Full story here]


Did you know that every modern Mac, iPhone, iPad and iPod has the built-in ability to be found? It's easy to take advantage of these features, but there are a few things you do need to do before the need to find your device arises:

1. You need an Apple ID. If you set up iCloud already, you have one. If you haven't set up your free iCloud account already, what are you waiting for? It has so many great uses besides finding your iDevices that there's no reason not to set it up.

2. You need to activate it on your device - in advance - if you want to be able to use it. On your iDevice, go into Settings>iCloud, and scroll down to Find my i[Device]. Make sure it's "On."

3. Download and configure the free "Find My iPhone" App from iTunes.

4. Know your iCloud username and password. This means that although you need to use a secure password, you also need to be able to absolutely positively remember this one.

Then, in the event that your Mac or iPhone is lost or misplaced, you can either use the app on one of your other devices, or a friend's device, or get on the web and log in to iCloud and activate "Find My iPhone."

A map will open up, and - if it can - the app will pinpoint the location of all your stuff! You also have the option to make the lost device beep loudly (very useful when you don't know where your phone is but you know it's around here somewhere), lock it and pop up a message ("Hey, If you found my phone, please call me at this number...) or erase it (This is the "nuclear option:" a last ditch effort to avoid having all your private stuff become someone else's. After you erase the information on an iOS device, you won’t be able to use Find My iPhone to locate it or play a sound.)

If you are running iOS 6, you'll even be able to track your device, keeping a log of all the places your phone goes until you can get it back.

So, download the app and play around with it, and visit iCloud and try it there as well.

If you need help, you know where to find me!

PhotoSynth - I Love This App!

One of the shortfalls of the iPhone and iPad cameras is their fixed wide angle aspect. I've frequently been frustrated by the camera's inability to capture landscapes, or really anything much beyond casual snapshots. With all those megapixels in my pocket - more than three times as many as in my dedicated camera (and less than 1/8 the size and weight) - I've often wished I could take a picture 1/3 as good.

Photosynth changes the game. Even though it is made by Microsoft, it is one of my all time favorite photography apps. (That alone should tell you how good it must be.) I find myself going to it over and over again. Photosynth allows you to take wide angle and panoramic photos with your iDevice, just by slowly moving around as it automatically shoots overlapping images which it then weaves together into a (mostly) seamless picture. You can take a big wide shot and crop it and save it to your photo roll (click on the image to the left), or you can go the whole 360° route and then view your panorama in the App or on the associated web site, which can have some pretty dramatic results! Click on the box to the right and be sure to expand the resulting image to full screen to really take in just what this offers!

I've found the app to be pretty easy to use, consistently yielding pleasing results. My experience is that it works best when nothing in your shot is moving. Ask people to hold still as you pan near and over them or you will have ghosts and blurs, but sometimes that can be part of the fun. The app, and the non-required use of the web site are both free.

Pageonce - I Love This App!

Pageonce - for the iPhone and the iPad, makes keeping track of your credit cards, regular bills, and bank accounts fun. Or, at least as much fun as it can be. Once you enter your usernames and passwords into its relatively simple interface, Pageonce keeps track of your balances, payment due dates, and any unusual activity in all of your accounts.

But, the real beauty is that Pageonce sends me alerts a week, and then again a day before my payments are due. It let's me know when a new bill is ready for review. And, it let's me know if there are any problems like an unusually large transaction. You really need to get this app and set it up to fully understand the value it adds. Because it aggregates all this info for you, there's no more logging in to 5 sites or running the bank app, the discover app, the Visa app, phone company app, the whatever app just to know how things stand.

I've been using it for over a year now and while it's not Angry Birds, I have to say, "I Love This App!" Originally worth it at $9.99, this app is available in the App Store at the remarkable price of FREE!