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Is shopping site selling pirated iTunes gift cards?

iTunes gift cards have been pirated, and China's biggest C2C online shopping site, Taobao, is the platform used to sell the cards.

Julie Rivera Former Associate technology editor
While taking psych and theater courses in college, Julie learned her mom overpaid a PC technician to...lose her data. Thus, a tech geek was born. An associate editor for CNET Reviews, as well as a laptop testing analyst at CNET Labs, this wayward individual has maniacally dissected hardware and conquered hardware/software related issues for more than a decade. Just don't ask for help on her time off--she'll stare at you quizzically, walk away, and make herself a drink.
Julie Rivera

According to Outdustry, iTunes gift cards have been pirated, and China's biggest C2C online shopping site, Taobao, is the platform used to sell the cards.

Taobao

Chinese hackers have figured out a way to generate iTunes gift card keycode numbers and help themselves to songs from Apple's music store. The hackers have been selling pirated $200 iTunes gift cards on Taobao for as little as 17.9 RMB, or just $2.60--a savings of almost 99 percent!

Taobao's shop owner told Outdustry, "the gift card codes are created using key generators" and that he "paid money to use the hackers' service." All the seller actually sells is the gift voucher code, which is sent to you directly through Taobao's IM software. You can then redeem the card in your iTunes account.

Taobao

He continues on to say, "Half a year ago, when they started the business, the price was around 320 RMB for $200 card; then more people went into this business and the price went all the way down to 18 RMB per card, but we make more money, as the amount of customers is growing rapidly."

Unfortunately, that means for every illicit iTunes card sold, a legitimate iTunes gift card potentially becomes invalid.

Has anyone scratched off their gift cards recently only to find the codes don't work? Hit me up on the comments below.

[via Load This]