Increase in iPhone and iPad Thefts Accounts for Rise in New York City Crime Index

[Boomish69]

Originally Posted by Muscle Master

Remember when someone pulled a gun to my head for my 4S back in April Funny thing is.. this happened rite around the corner from the 22nd police district, I ran there when it was over knowing Philadelphia Police are issued iphones

I used the "find my iphone" while the good men in blue was mounting up in the squad cars... (all of this happened within 10 mins) the perp turned my phone off. never to be saw again


Part of me blame apple for not putting a password lock on the power off function. really believed if the ahole was not able to turn my phone off, he would have been brought to justice

leads me to say... the find my iphone app is crap, yeah I said it fanboys so what!. yeah in some situations its handy when you left it in a coffee shop 5 mins. ago or lost it underneath the bed. But other than that, what is it good for?

That sounds awful, seems the track my iphone is only good for idiot thieves, they must have the means and know how to track these phones even when they are switched off, plus what happened to the whole IMEI number blocking system? surly if there was no re-sale market they wouldn't steal as many.

[iGrip]

Originally Posted by jetjaguar

thats crazy and im there everyday

He's dissembling.

I'd bet that if you looked at various categories, some are up and some are down. If one looks at thefts of electronic goods, one might see that they are steady and h could still say the same thing about Apple products. Note that he did NOT say that thefts of electronics are up. He only said that if one were to subtact a certain brand, the stats would be different.

[jpadhiyar]

That's a pathetic tale. Lol to @Mactendo … certainly, thieves are way smarter than Apple's Find My iPhone. Airplane mode → Restore → Sell for instacash.

[ricardobeat]

Originally Posted by foobarbaz

Playing with statistics to make a lame excuse!

The increase in Apple products is due to growth in smartphone numbers and probably offset by decreased number of regular phone thefts.

If Apple hadn't increased, those others wouldn't have gone down as much and the crime number would still be bigger.

This is just some politician trying to give a reasonable sounding explanation why something else caused a problem and he shouldn't be blamed.

Your logic is also lame. Of course the growth is related to smartphone usage growing, that's what the news is about. And if the growth in smartphone thefts were offset by "regular" phone theft decreasing, the total wouldn't be higher...

I would bet that 99% of the people who own an iPhone already had a mobile phone before, so, with an iPhone they have an increased chance of theft. iPads might account for much of the growth though, since they *are* usually first-purchase devices.

[Mrjoedot]

Nobody wants samsung these days huh?

[somethingelsefl]

Originally Posted by ArchAndroid

The admins haven't touched it because someone forgot to activate their sarcasm detector .

I realize he was being sarcastic. Just because he was sarcastic doesn't mean was off-topic and not Apple-related. Read MR's rules.

[theanimaster]

Call me sadistic, but one day I would love to buy a dummy iPhone (those ones they use for displays), pack it with C5 explosives and a remote detonation system, then head for the subways of New York...


... and if more people thought the same and did the same, THEN we may see a decline in iPhone theft (and an increase in mugger fatalities).

[topmounter]

Originally Posted by iVoid

So along with 32oz sodas, he's now going to ban Apple products in the city.

And subway trains since they are now being used to murder innocent people.

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Originally Posted by theanimaster

Call me sadistic, but one day I would love to buy a dummy iPhone (those ones they use for displays), ...... then head for the subways of New York...


... and if more people thought the same and did the same, THEN we may see a decline in iPhone theft (and an increase in mugger fatalities).

I believe that just making that post is a felony nowadays.

[Mr.damien]

Originally Posted by Caliber26

I wonder how long before Samsung films an ad, mocking iPhone users for exposing themselves to theft.

You mean by using their phone instead of not like Android phones ?

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Originally Posted by Jaro65

When I worked in Saudi Arabia, I noticed how store vendors didn't mind placing small items right by the door. You won't see that here in the US, as it would be easy to walk in, grab, and run. Of course, if you were to do that in Saudi Arabia, you lose your hand. As a result, theft is not something one is generally concerned with. Perhaps if we instituted meaningful penalties for theft, we would also not need to worry about pulling out our iPads and iPhones in the public?

There is another country where you can even let your keys on your car without being stolen and that doesn't need to cut hand of people: Japan.

Keep your middles ages law for yourself thanks.

BTW, where are your meaningful penalties for people that stole billions, get money from mafia and drugs like HSBC bank ? Ho wait, there is none. Start by that then make some laws for phone stealing ...

[SPUY767]

Originally Posted by larrybeo

There is a simple solution to this problem. We need more guns in our inner cities to prevent crime. We need an assault rifle store on every block in Manhattan. That will teach these theives a lesson.

If I criminal were't almost guaranteed to have an unarmed victim on NYC streets, I can guarantee you that they'd think twice about mugging someone. Also, it appears that you don't know what an assault rifle is, so you need to not participate in an intelligent debate about gun rights. Have a nice day.

[spyd4r]

Apple needs to make it if you have a pin code set a wipe won't erase it.. i don't care if you forget your pin code... don't be stupid

[Mechanic]

Originally Posted by clibinarius

These sorts of reactions of immense insult is what makes these commercials so great. The fact so many people hate Samsung is hilarious-just as hilarious as people who hate Apple.

The problem with your argument is that samsungs commercials are rude and insulting to the people who own iPhones, the very people that there trying to get to buy there phones. I will never buy a samsung product for that very reason. I find there commercials degrading and insulting as an iphone owner myself because they paint all i product owners as stupid, old and out of touch with whats cool which is total bs.

[mdlooker]

One of the biggest reasons I JB my iPhone 4 was for this reason. I downloaded an app "I got ya" which prevents the phone from turning off and takes a picture with the front camera on each unsuccessful PIN entry..all without the knowledge of the person with the phone. Really, really gave a sense of security while the "find my iPhone" could do it's thing. I hope either Apple allows this type of app in their App Store or an IP5 JB comes real soon.

[jfremani]

Why doesn't apple and the cell phone providers allow phones with stolen serial numbers to be blackballed, if not tracked?

I was playing basketball at the YMCA the other day and apparently some people pry'd open some lockers and stole a few iphones. They knew to turn the phone off immediately so it couldnt be trackd by the "find my iphone" feature, then they probably wiped them when they got to a secure location and resold them. Those phones should still be traceable by SN but nobody seems to care.

[bedifferent]

The "Find my iPhone" feature needs to be tweaked as it is too simple for anyone to get around. Same with notebooks as simply removing iCloud info from the system or performing a clean install is simple. There must be a better way.

Why not track the iPhone using its GPS chip? Tracking through iCloud accounts serves no purpose when it's an easy system to bypass.

[xdxdaustin]

Originally Posted by theanimaster

Call me sadistic, but one day I would love to buy a dummy iPhone (those ones they use for displays), pack it with C5 explosives and a remote detonation system, then head for the subways of New York...


... and if more people thought the same and did the same, THEN we may see a decline in iPhone theft (and an increase in mugger fatalities).

This is messed up in so many ways. Why would you say anything like that after 9/11 or any of the other mass tragedies? This solution, like arming teachers with guns, will never work. Why? Its fighting fire with fire, which everyone knows doesn't work. Rather than improving the world via positive means, you would be trying to change it with hate and fear.

[faizanshakyboy]

"Rapes would be down if women didn't dress so provocatively."
-Michael Bloomberg

[Shrink]

Originally Posted by Radio

Hmm - people need to be more careful and use digression

Discretion is called for...but I digress.

[reboot81]

Here in Europe we report a stolen phone to the police, they in turn list the phone as stolen and prevents the device from connection to the cellular network.

The process can be reversed if the device is returned to its rightful owner.

This prevents all iPhone thefts, and instead thieves are taking iPod touch instead.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interna...pment_Identity

[cameronjpu]

Originally Posted by xdxdaustin

This is messed up in so many ways. Why would you say anything like that after 9/11 or any of the other mass tragedies?

Seriously, you shouldn't make a joke like that after god flooded the earth. Or after the asteroid that wiped out the dinosaurs. This kind of joke just doesn't fly in a post-asteroid world.



If you have no sense of humor whatsoever, you might want to get off the internet.

[BlindGoldfish]

What am I missing here... What are thieves doing with these phones? Isn't it possible to tag a stolen phone so it can never be activated again?

[Pirate515]

Originally Posted by BlindGoldfish

What am I missing here... What are thieves doing with these phones? Isn't it possible to tag a stolen phone so it can never be activated again?

It is left up to carriers.

Several years ago, I've seen several articles that Verizon would blacklist ESN/MEID's of the phones reported to them as stolen. They would then refuse to reactivate these phones unless you could prove to them that you are the original owner. Not sure if they are still doing this.

I've seen several articles a few months back saying that AT&T would also start their own database to track stolen phones by IMEI. If they haven't started it yet, they will soon.

Not sure where other carriers such as Sprint, T-Mobile, MetroPCS stand on this.

[Tom Sawyer]

Originally Posted by barkomatic

Not surprising. I'm very careful with using my iPhone in the city but its always a little risky. It would be a great feature if Apple added functionality to somehow make an iPhone useless to a thief.

I'm thinking a biometric reader on the phone... perhaps the button, to unlock, it requires your finger, any attempt to circumvent and the phone renders itself useless (firmware wiped, etc). Oh wait, iPhone theft crimes may become more violent with the need to lop off fingers.

[sinsin07]

Originally Posted by gnasher729

Statistically...

Let's assume that from 2007 to 2012, all crime has grown at an identical rate, including theft of expensive phones. But since the iPhone was just introduced in 2007 and the number of iPhone thefts were zero before it was introduced, the rate of iPhone thefts has grown at a much larger rate.

So he is basically saying that if for some magic reason all thieves had decided to never ever steal an iPhone, and not commit other crimes instead either, then the crime rate would have dropped. Well, that is statistically obvious and pointless at the same time.

So was this post.

[smoledman]

Notice - nobody wants to steal a Lumia 920 or Samsung Galaxy S3. Thieves steal iThings because they have tremendous resale value. Whereas a Surface RT will resale at pennies on the dollar the moment after sale.