The lawsuit covered people who allegedly fell victim to a gift card scam between 2015 and 2020.
Apple has agreed to settle a lawsuit that alleges it benefited from a scam that relied on the company’s gift cards, according to a court filing.
Apple
and the unnamed plaintiffs—identified as Barrett et al—have decided on a settlement and are drafting a formal proposal for a judge, according to a court filing in San Jose, Calif. on Wednesday. The filing didn’t mention a dollar figure for the settlement.
Apple didn’t immediately respond to a Barron’s request for comment Thursday.
According to the lawsuit filed against Apple, swindlers would trick people over the phone into buying Apple gift cards to use to pay for taxes, debt, or other bills. The scammers would get the victims to share the codes on the cards, allowing the fraudsters to redeem the cards for themselves, according to the complaint. Apple would then keep a portion of the stolen gift card funds—30%—for itself, the complaint alleges. The lawsuit covered anyone deceived by the scam from 2015 through 2020, who hasn’t already been given a full refund by Apple.
Apple shares fell 1.3% to $181.88 in recent Thursday trading, marking four straight days of declines. The stock is down about 6% over the past four sessions, according to Dow Jones Market Data, after getting a clutch of downgrades from analysts concerned that iPhone sales are weakening.
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