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Increased Theft of Apple Devices 'Driving Force' Behind Rise of Larcenies in New York City

Not sure I like how this seems to imply Apple is somehow at fault here; while Apple may have cleverly taken a lead in truly bringing smart phones to the masses, it was something that was bound to happen anyway. Mobile phone thefts was already a problem in its own right, the rise of smart phones just made it more lucrative and thus more popular.

Of course it doesn't help that many smart phone and tablet owners are surprisingly careless considering the value of their devices; leaving them in open bags, or leaving them out on tables in bars and restaurants. I only have a £70 smart phone but I'm extremely careful with it, let alone a phone worthy hundreds.
 
wikiverse said:
Shhh. You're ruining the circlejerk.

Everyone knows that apple are single handedly driving up the crime rate so they can sell more devices. Profits don't come from people not having their phones stolen.

I wonder how many of these 'stolen' phones are actually just insurance fraud. It would be interesting to see if the crime rate goes up immediately after the release of a new product. Apple devices are just that desirable you know.

(That's how you circlejerk!)
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Why would you want to downplay it or make fun of it?
Smartphone theft in general and more specifically iPhone theft is a major problem in all cities around the world. I can't count anymore how many people I know (including myself) who had their iPhone stolen at least once. Some criminals said that they switched from selling weed to stealing iPhones because it was much more profitable in a much shorter period of time. In many cities there is at least one story of someone getting killed recently while being robbed for their phone.

Also, most stolen phones are not sold in the same country as where they were robbed. Stolen phone in the US are often sold in Latin America, stolen phones in Europe are often sold in Africa or in Russia, that's why carriers blocking EMEI only has limited effect. I don't know how effective Apple's new activation lock is, I guess it's always possible to jailbreak it...
 
Apple stuff is over-priced!

MacRumors said:
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According to new data from the New York Police Department (via The Wall Street Journal), the rising theft of devices such as the iPhone and iPad remained one of the driving forces behind the high amount of grand larcenies last year in New York City. In detail, the data showed that Apple products were involved in 8,465 thefts and made up for 18% of all grand larcenies in the city, which rose 13% overall in 2013 from the year prior.

In 2012, former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg released data showing that the theft of iPhones and iPads contributed to growth of the overall crime index for the city, as the police department recorded 3,890 more Apple product thefts than for the same period in 2011.

[snip]

Article Link: Increased Theft of Apple Devices 'Driving Force' Behind Rise of Larcenies in New York City
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This must mean Apple products are overpriced! If they were cheaper, they would only be petty larceny, or maybe people would even buy their own. </s>
 
I remember when GPS devices came out there was a similar crime wave. Thieves broke into cars that had the telltale windshield ring left from the suction mounts. Car stereos were a target decades before.
 
yeah right

with the nsa tracking your phone already now the NYPD wants you to hand them the keys and pre register your phone with them. this way they can track individuals around the city at will . this is a typical use fear to steal privacy rights tactic. how but a recovery of stolen phones statistic? just how many of these phones were found and returned ? my guess is the pile of missing phones is right behind the box of donuts !
 
I live in NYC, have had iPhones since 2008 and haven't had mine stolen. A little common sense goes a long way. Don't leave it sitting on the bar, don't leave it in your jacket and then leave that jacket lying around in public. Check to make sure your iPhone didn't fall out in the cab -- and try to keep your iPhone out of sight in sketchy areas.

Much of the time, people drop their iPhones or lose track of them after having a few too many--and then report that as theft for insurance purposes.
 
This just shows ow popular Apple is..

When a theft occurs this high, you KNOW it's popular.

It may even be better, than saying "how well do they sell"
 
Lesser Evets said:
"fueled by thefts of electronic devices"... spin, spin, spin. Half the job of statisticians in this age is an ability to paint the results with their masters' propaganda.

I'll give you the real dope: the devices are easier to steal, so thieves are switching from taking refrigerators, cars, grain silos, etc., and taking the super-expensive, light-weight things that are thoughtlessly left unguarded in public.

They need money. They aren't going to stop and starve merely because an iPhone becomes inaccessible or high risk. iPhones are merely convenient, plentiful fruit on the tree.
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Nobody admits that New York has become a giant ghetto on par with Chicago, Atlanta, Detroit, etc. It's not Apple's fault crime is rampant in New York City.
 
Apple would have to Activation Lock every component (especially the screen) for the resale value to hit zero.

The fact that an Activation Locked iPhone goes for $150 on ebay where as the same iPhone with a bad esn can still fetch $300, means that Activation Lock works.
 
I will be heading to NYC for the MLK weekend. If you dont hear from me next week, you can add me to the stats.:eek:
 
windomearle said:
Why would you want to downplay it or make fun of it?
Smartphone theft in general and more specifically iPhone theft is a major problem in all cities around the world. I can't count anymore how many people I know (including myself) who had their iPhone stolen at least once. Some criminals said that they switched from selling weed to stealing iPhones because it was much more profitable in a much shorter period of time. In many cities there is at least one story of someone getting killed recently while being robbed for their phone.

Also, most stolen phones are not sold in the same country as where they were robbed. Stolen phone in the US are often sold in Latin America, stolen phones in Europe are often sold in Africa or in Russia, that's why carriers blocking EMEI only has limited effect. I don't know how effective Apple's new activation lock is, I guess it's always possible to jailbreak it...
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It's not a problem here.

I'm shocked every tone I hear stories of people waiting for the subway and having their phone stolen right from their hand. Not all cities are filled with these kinds of animals.
 
gnasher729 said:
Sadly, nobody in New York City seems to be any good at statistics, and they confuse correlation with causality.
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That might be related, but I don't think it's the cause.

I think this is just a lame excuse! "Look, it's not our fault, there is just so much more nice, stealable things!" What's bugging me, is that people (and news organizations) buy it.
 
Rogifan said:
But I thought Android had all the market share and everyone was buying Galaxy's?
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Clearly Apple products are selling well because everyone needs to buy two. One - and when that gets stolen, a replacement.

So it's no wonder Apple products are selling like hotcakes. Right?
 
Klae17 said:
Hey, you know your product is successful when thieves want it.
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Clearly the Mayor and Wall Street doesn't like mere plebs homing on on stealing from common people! I bet expensive cars report more vandalism and theft too... And expensive gold watches are stolen more than Hello Kitty ones. Such a non-story other than the government "blaming the victim" because the police aren't actually STOPPING crimes.

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haravikk said:
Not sure I like how this seems to imply Apple is somehow at fault here; while Apple may have cleverly taken a lead in truly bringing smart phones to the masses, it was something that was bound to happen anyway. Mobile phone thefts was already a problem in its own right, the rise of smart phones just made it more lucrative and thus more popular.

Of course it doesn't help that many smart phone and tablet owners are surprisingly careless considering the value of their devices; leaving them in open bags, or leaving them out on tables in bars and restaurants. I only have a £70 smart phone but I'm extremely careful with it, let alone a phone worthy hundreds.
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People could be more careful... Or other people could not steal what's not theirs.. There's a reason "petty theft" is one of the most overly severely punished crimes in less well-to-do cultures. Lets go back to chopping off hands!!! People without fingers can't steal stuff!!! (Unless they're bankers)
 
Not to have a blame the victim mentality, but I wonder how many of the thefts could have been prevented if the victims were better educated on how to protect their devices?

Rule of thumb I tend to use when I'm walking on a city street is to make sure there's nobody nearby to make my device when I take it out of my pocket to glance at something like directions. I don't take it out at all unless I have to - I wear a watch so that I don't need my phone to tell time. I feel like an iWatch with the time, weather, notifications, directions, and music (am I missing anything? Is there something else people do with their phones while on the go) would go a long way towards reducing theft, if that meant users keep their phones away when they're out walking.
 
didn't someone get held up in central park for their phone and when the thief realised it was a Windows Phone and not an iPhone he rejected it? Claiming he would get nothing for it.
 
It's the parts value, I suspect

I think you can still sell a working 4s on the used market for $125 or so, with a little effort and patience. But there are so many of these phones still in service that need repair parts, I'm sure it's more lucrative to disassemble these things and become a "parts supplier".


Killerbob said:
Happend to me as well whilst on vacation to NYC:( I can't help but wonder though; what is an iPhone 4s really worth to the idiot who stole it? It was in Airplane mode (it happend in JFK arriving in from Reykjavik), it requires a PIN to open, the SIM also has a PIN (even to use after airplane mode), and there is no data of any worth...

This means the thief cannot use the phone, nor the SIM, and he can't activate it either, as it is locked with my Apple ID.

I guess he could use it for parts, or jailbreak it...
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DipDog3 said:
People who sell/buy these activation locked iPhones know they are stolen, but the sellers don't care (cause they probably stole them) & the buyers are only using them for parts (aka the screen).

Unlike a bad ESN which can still be used overseas, Activation lock makes the iPhone pretty useless.
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Exactly. Until congress or ebay starts cracking down on them iPhone thefts will continue to be a problem. A few hundreds for an activation locked iPhone is better than $0.
 
gnasher729 said:
Sadly, nobody in New York City seems to be any good at statistics, and they confuse correlation with causality.

Theft of Apple Devices is going up for the simple reason that there are more of them around. I bet not a single iPhone was stolen before 2007. I'd love to see the statistics for theft of hybrid cars; they must be skyrocketing since hybrid cars were introduced. By now they must massively outnumber the thefts of horse buggies.

The "rise of larcenies" in New York City is due to more people stealing stuff. And once they steal stuff, they steal stuff that is there.
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There are more guns in the US today than there were 20 years ago but the murder rate has gone down.
 
This graph only shows the numbers through 2013, and Activation Lock was only out for a few months. I have a feeling the amount of theft will be lower after a full year with Activation Lock.
 
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