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$16,000 Worth of iPhones Stolen from Charlotte Apple Store in Apparent Inside Job

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There's no way I would risk my job and jail time for only $16k... What was this guy thinking?
 
re original article

2 things

too bad aapl is so successful that money will have to be spent on added security measures

it would have added insult to injury if the robbers left blackberry and windows phones in place of the iphones

go aapl
 
This perp will try to hide himself for a while

________________________________________________
25 Shiny iPhones
 
Saladinos said:
I wouldn't think this says anything about the place. Honestly, this could have happened anywhere.
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Yep. And this is likely not the only Apple Store that has had such goings on. Just the only one that got out into the media.

Back when they could make exceptions on water damage etc, I have been told that employees that came in for bar appointments had to be handled by managers not the techs to make sure that someone wasn't 'one time' helping out a buddy when it was really beyond the guidelines (or wasn't the first time).

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MCP-511 said:
Every unit has a unique UDID. I would think Apple knows what batch went where and a few minutes looking threw their records would yield the UDIDs of the stolen devices. My guess is, soon as one is activated or it hits an Apple server for anything, Apple will be able to locate it and eventually it will be traced back to the perpetrator of the crime.
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don't have to go that far. There won't be a purchase record in the system to put them under warranty. So whomever gets it will be screwed when it comes to repairs and such. That's a pretty good punishment for someone that buys in such a way.

As for the employee. Fired, flagged as not eligible for rehire for certain. Charges for theft very possible.

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Bearxor said:
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Apple won't hold end users whom bought a phone from this guy responsible.
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yes and no. They aren't going to call the cops etc on the user. But they also won't warranty an item that comes up in the system as never sold. So the end user would get screwed in that way.

and if these were replacements from the service bar they wouldn't be in the system until they were applied to a repair. Someone that would steal that many in such a short time might not be smart enough to find a way to rig a repair to have them report correctly.

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Hustler1337 said:
Am I the only person who was initially shocked at the figure of $16,000 for only 25 iPhones?
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they are basing that on the full retail price of the phones.
 
@gr8gatzby Good work. Let catch this loser!

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On the subject of grudges

I think many people would love to work for Apple. I applied. I'm sure they treat their employees as good or better than most.

That in no way justifies theft. It's not Apple's fault that someone stole, it's the perpetrator's fault.

If you work for Apple, and you don't like it, either quit and join the unemployed or ****. In no way do you have carte blanche to steal.
 
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THIS is why google does not have stores.

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RobMoss said:
This raises a question for me. As with the looting in London last year, if someone steals an iphone, ipad, etc, surely the serial number would identify it as a stolen unit, and you wouldn't be able to activate it. So (and this is my reason for asking), if you were to inadvertently buy a stolen item off eBay, where do you stand..? I'd like to buy my wife a 2nd hand iPad (to stop her hogging mine! :D), but am really worried that I'd end up having it confiscated when I tried to restore it. And yes, I know that in all probability, most iPads on eBay aren't stolen, but it would be just my luck..

Does anyone have any experience of such a situation..? What did Apple do..?
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It is potentially a crime to receive/buy/possess stolen goods. Most likely you would just have go return them and be out the money you spent. Unless it was too good to be true where it was clear the item was stolen.
 
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gr8gatzby said:
I live 1 mile from this store.....checking the craigslist iphone activity right now.
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I thought I had noticed an uptick of cheap < $300 4S's in January, but attributed it to Christmas. Haven't seen a lot go that cheap recently.

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Dylatron2000 said:
The sad part is that store usually is that empty....
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Really? I have to quit going to South Park then. Place is always PACKED.
 
ProVideo said:
Those cutouts of the people look creepy in that empty store.
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I think the thief was one of the cutouts.

"Make me stand here all day, trapped like a veal with this stupid grin on my face, will you? I'll steal some iPhones and fund my way outta this place..."
 
marksman said:
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THIS is why google does not have stores.
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If they did, but you didn't know where they were, which store would you go to in order to help you find them?
 
Really? I have to quit going to South Park then. Place is always PACKED.[/QUOTE]

yeah South Park is a nightmare!! Probably better customer service there, though, and less scandal ;) but the quietness of North Lake is nice.

Most times I go its about a 3:1 sales associate to customer ratio.
 
It always amazes me at how stupid criminals are.

Go ahead, steal the iphone. At some point, people will connect to the internet and I'm sure Apple has ways of communicating with their devices.

morons

:)
 
wordoflife said:
They're going to find the employee, and he's going to get in trouble - probably put behind bars.
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Depends on his/her criminal record. If they have no prior offenses, they will definitely get no jail time, just have to pay it back and probation. Probably even one or two prior offenses will get no jail time.

You have to do an awful lot in this country to go to jail. People embezzle hundreds of thousands of dollars from their employers and many never go to jail. It just depends on the individual and what they've done in the past.
 
$16,000 MRSP worth is in actual China Manufacturing cost = $160 lol
I don't think Apple will lose too much sleep over this.
 
qtx43 said:
If that is so, then why won't the carriers do that for individuals who have their phones stolen?
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Because they don't want to be liable for false, mistaken, and forged stolen iPhone reports, and false arrests due to paperwork errors as well as joe jobs. Would you want a swat team at your door because 2 bar code labels got swapped?
 
SO they lost roughly 23 iPhones.. (Average retail pricing) I don't see why Apple would be upset about those numbers. NBD
 
No one mentioned that its possible these end up on ebay viet nam and get sold to someone in russia. How exactly is the UDID/UUID, MAC address, ICC-ID or anything unique going to help Apple track down the thieves?
 
They need to install iGuns in thier stores.

SPECS:

10,000 7.62 x 63mm bullets
In-fared/Thermal censors
Built from high-grade titanium
Automatically shuts doors when robber detected
 
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