Unrecognized Apple TV charges on credit card

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Level 1

4 points

Unrecognized Apple TV charges on credit card

Do you see charges from Apple on your credit card statement that you don't recognize? If you're like me, you probably have several charges every month. One for data storage, one for TV, etc. They all just say APPLE, with no detail. Until recently, I just glossed over all these charges. But when I started paying more attention, I came to the inescapable conclusion that someone else has been using my credit card number to pay for their Apple TV subscription for the past three and a half years. (I notified the bank and cancelled the card.)

I know, I'm an idiot for not noticing this earlier. I do blame Apple in part, however, for not providing any detail about the charges directly on the statement. You can review charges to your account on your phone or at icloud.com, which is how I finally figured out what was going on. The extra monthly charges did not appear in my account. I tried to contact Apple but couldn't get past the automated system, which was useless. My bank could provide no detail about the charges, but suggested that they might be fraudulent.

Every month since June 2022, there have been two charges that varied by a few cents each month, but which closely tracked the (steadily increasing) monthly charge for Apple TV. I concluded that the difference was a matter of sales tax. My rate is 8.25%, and this corresponds to one of the two charges. The fraudulent charges have been taxed at a rate of 6.2%, which explains the small difference.

I wonder how widespread this little trick is. Is it common knowledge among fraudsters that if you use stolen credit card numbers to make small purchases you'll probably never get caught?

Posted on Dec 5, 2025 8:43 AM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

Phil0124

Level 10

216,692 points

Dec 5, 2025 9:05 AM in response to Gullbyrd

Scammers don't usually add stolen cards to their Apple accounts, since that can be easily linked to them and they really don't want that.

They'll usually just make a purchase once, for crypto currency or some other equally untraceable item.

What you describe sounds more like a forgotten subscription, either on a different account of yours (if you made a new Apple account at any point) or from someone you share your payment method with, or if you are the organizer of a family sharing group, another member of the group.

Also, people have been known to start subscriptions on different devices with different accounts and forget about them.

If you say started a subscription on a Google Tv device or Roku through their platform and then subscribed directly through Apple for instance.

Since the charge does not actually appear on your account, its hard to say its actually a secondary subscription for Apple TV, it may be for something entirely different.

If you log in to https://reportaproblem.apple.com it may appear there and identify what it's for. If its still not there, you don't share your payment method with anybody, or are the Family Organizer in a family sharing group, or used to have a different Apple Account, then it is possibly fraud, but that just seems unlikely.

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Answer 2

Mac Jim ID

Level 9

59,288 points

Dec 5, 2025 10:57 AM in response to Gullbyrd

You are only able to get details about any charges on your Apple Account where you have the Password for access. There is no positive identification required when creating an Apple Account and Apple is not going to reveal any personal details from a purchase. You can certainly let someone else use your credit card, but that does not give you the right to access that persons Apple Account or expect Apple to give you any information about the person.

The process to dispute a charge is the exact same no matter who the merchant is. First you make contact with the merchant for a resolution, then if not possible dispute the charge with the bank of the card being charged. They will advise the same thing for you to do, so follow those steps.

Contact Apple here. Expect them to tell you that they can only reveal details about your Apple Account and not from another one. Contact Apple Support - Apple Support
Now that you completed step 1, continue by disputing the charge with your bank and give them the information that Apple told you.

It is the bank that approved your charge, not Apple. The bank also is regulated by Government Agencies to make sure they are following the rules for when a consumer disputes a charge. You can escalate the matter there if no action is being taken.

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Answer 3

Gullbyrd Author

Level 1

4 points

Dec 5, 2025 3:09 PM in response to Phil0124

I do not remember changing accounts.

While I can't prove that both of the monthly charges are for Apple TV, here's my reasoning.

There is a valid charge (currently $14.06 / month) that I get an email receipt for and that I can see in my Apple account information as an Apple TV charge. This amount was originally $5.30 ($4.99 plus tax) and has increased in line with Apple's rate changes.
Beginning in June 2022, there has been another charge (call it the "shadow charge") for which I do not receive an email receipt and which does not appear in my account information under iPhone subscriptions, in-app purchases, or subscriptions in Apple TV.
Every month, the shadow charge is equal to 98.15% (slightly rounded) of the valid Apple TV charge (this corresponds to the difference between my 8.25% tax rate and a tax rate of about 6.2%). The valid charge and the shadow charge increase at the same time, and are charged four days apart. I'm not aware of any other Apple products that always cost exactly the same as Apple TV.
While this obviously isn't probative, I think the most likely explanation is that the shadow charge is for a second Apple TV subscription.

I did have a Comcast email address that is no longer valid, and if I had created an Apple TV account using that address, it might explain why I don't get receipts. But I don't think I ever did that, and there's still the sales tax discrepancy.

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Answer 4

Gullbyrd Author

Level 1

4 points

Dec 5, 2025 10:35 AM in response to Gullbyrd

It's theoretically possible that the charge relates to a forgotten account or service, as you suggest, but I'm skeptical, primarily because of the difference in tax rates. I have lived in the same town for longer than Apple TV has existed, so I wouldn't have created another account in a different area. I don't share my credit card details with anyone, and this is a card I rarely use except for business expenses.

I spent a lot of time yesterday on the "report a problem" page, but it is not designed to deal with this kind of problem. It seems to me that there should be a way to report this to Apple, but I have not been able to find it (unless posting here counts as reporting the problem). There really should be a way to get more detail about specific charges.

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Answer 5

Phil0124

Level 10

216,692 points

Dec 5, 2025 1:28 PM in response to Gullbyrd

The difference in tax rates can be explained by a difference in the actual cost of the item. Since you can'f actually find the charge, there's no way to be sure it is actually for Apple TV.

It's possible it's for something other than Apple TV that comes out to the lower price you see when the 8% tax is applied.

If you ever had a different Apple account and you created a new one for some reason, the charge may come from the old account. Do you remember changing accounts at any point?

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