They all said the same thing:
“The decision is final. There’s nothing more we can do.”
No one could give a clear explanation for why my account was restricted.
They said the decision came from another department — but refused to transfer me.

I was shocked.
After months of waiting, uploading documents, following every step they asked — Apple’s final answer was: We’re done.
For two more days, I kept contacting Apple Support — speaking with different representatives, repeating my story hundreds of times.

On June 29 — remember, this all started in March — a representative finally called me.

He told me:
🔒 The restriction on my Apple account would not be lifted
🚫 There would be no refund of any kind

And the solution?
I had to cancel my Apple account and create a brand new one.

I told him:
“I want to cancel the cash-out request. I’ll just use the balance in my account.”

I was tired, stressed, and just wanted to move on.
But what happened next made things even worse.

Meanwhile, my Apple account remained restricted.
That meant I couldn’t even update free apps I was already using — like my mobile banking app.
So I reached out again. I explained that the process was dragging on, and the restriction was seriously affecting my daily life.

Then my account got restricted — but I assumed it was temporary, part of the process.
I was wrong.
While waiting, I kept checking in. I asked the representative if there were any updates — because it was taking far too long.

That’s when everything started getting messy.
This was April. He told me the decision would take 5–10 business days, and if approved, the check would arrive in another 4–6 weeks. He also told me not to use the balance during this time.

I asked the rep if I could receive the refund as a check or deposit — because I had just received a new iPhone as a birthday gift.
I already had AirPods and a MacBook Pro — I wasn’t planning to buy anything else from Apple anytime soon.
He said he would submit a cash-out request.

He didn’t offer a full refund, and his reasoning was unclear. But I didn’t push back —
Because he gave me $750 worth of new redemption codes to apply to my Apple account.

But it wasn’t over.

He told me:The scammers had already redeemed the codes but because I disabled the cards in time, they couldn’t use the balance.The funds were still sitting unused. So Apple could recover them.

She said to wait 5–10 business days for the investigation to complete.
So I waited — silently, anxiously — believing Apple would take care of it.
Exactly 10 business days later, another representative contacted me.

She stayed on the phone with me for over 1.5 hours while I explained everything and uploaded all the documents through a link she gave me. She even accessed my phone remotely. She told me:
“If the gift cards haven’t been used yet, we can recover the balance.”
That gave me hope.

I arranged a call with a senior advisor for 8 a.m. the next morning. She called me.I had everything ready — the physical gift cards, redemption numbers, barcodes, serial numbers, and purchase receipts (which also included the barcodes).The debit card I used to buy them was also saved in my Apple Pay

Right after realizing it was a scam, I tried to redeem the cards myself — but it was too late.The scammers had already redeemed the codes.Still, there was hope: since I acted fast, I contacted Apple Support via chat and had them disable the cards before the scammers could spend the balance.

Everything stays inside Apple’s system — fully visible to them.
They have the tools and the data to investigate scams properly. But they don’t.

Apple can see everything:
✔️ Which account redeemed each card
✔️ What was purchased
✔️ When and how it was spent
✔️ Even if someone uses the balance to buy another gift card, that too is traceable

They can only be used to buy Apple products and services — apps, subscriptions, devices — all things Apple owns and tracks.

Before this happened, I had never used any kind of gift card — so I want to explain how Apple gift cards actually work, for those unfamiliar. They’re not like cash. You can’t withdraw the money, and you can’t spend it outside the Apple ecosystem.

They act secretive, hiding behind the word “investigation” to avoid sharing any real information — and they trick you in the process.
And the worst part? By reaching out to them, I ended up being victimized again. I can confidently say: the entire Apple Support system feels like a scam itself.