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Victim blaming does suck, but you have to wonder about this guy. Why the odd hour? Did he pay in cash? This seems like a good way to get rid of ill-gotten cash through a front, but if he is a criminal doing this you'd think he'd be smart enough to be wary of other criminals since he's in that world.

The whole thing just smells fishy to me.
 
Why would you purchase 300 iPhones at 1:45 AM? Why not buy them during the day when it is well-crowded around the streets? This sounds way too shady.

Instead of going to a strip club, this man decided to purchase 300 iPhones at 1:45 AM. :rolleyes:
The Cube gets more people through its doors per year than Yankee stadium.
Late night hours were also common times for celebrities to visit the store as even in NYC there are far fewer people overnight than middle of the day.
I still do not understand why they didn’t load them in some totes and ship them to his business, but the actual shopping at 0145 is the least suspicious part of this.
 
That’s not exactly the most common area to get mugged these days, even at 1am. I’d say there’s a 99% chance this dude was specifically targeted (either that or this is insurance fraud, but I’ll give the benefit of the doubt)

He knew the people who robbed him, most likely. The punches in the face were to sell it. This guy will be filing a massive charge back on his credit card(s) or filing some insurance paperwork. He and his buddies will then sell the phones.
 
It's one of their flagship stores. It has 900 employees. It's busy all the time, including at night when little else is open.

While not surprising they had so many iPhones on-hand, it is surprising they'd sell so many to a single person. They used to limit the number purchased per person per visit.
Only 900? I think it was more than that 10 years ago. Also, do not underestimate the crazy -ish the Business team will arrange for some customers.
 
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Victim blaming does suck, but you have to wonder about this guy. Why the odd hour? Did he pay in cash? This seems like a good way to get rid of ill-gotten cash through a front, but if he is a criminal doing this you'd think he'd be smart enough to be wary of other criminals since he's in that world.

The whole thing just smells fishy to me.
Agreed.

At a minimum there is a level of naivety / stupidity there. Carrying $90k worth of iphones around NYC without armed protection any time of the day is risky. At 1:45 AM? Dumb.

He must have bought online and just picked up there...I can't believe that any form of payment would have gone through at that time of day (and I seriously doubt that Apple would accept that much cash).
 
Las Vegas is open 24/7. Even the Apple Store here closes around 10:00-11:00 PM. When I visited New York City in September I went to the Fifth Avenue store It was very crowded and lit. It was past mid-night and I was alone too.
The Cube is, AFAIK, the only 24-hour Apple Store. It gets unimaginable amounts of traffic and, as I mentioned before, overnight is practically dead compared to any time during the day.
The robbery itself is the most suspicious part of the whole thing.
 
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Clear insurance fraud. Let me guess, the guy put a boxing glove on before the solitary jab?
And how exactly would he win this or think he could? Even the dumbest criminal has to know these phones have serial numbers that can be easily found during the claim investigation.
 
If he had a business credit card that has a limit that can cover that, he can file and get some or all of that money back (love that purchase security insurance). If he used a cheque or a debit card, hope can get something.
He will file a business insurance claim - no need to get the credit cards companies or banks involved.
 
Agreed.

At a minimum there is a level of naivety / stupidity there. Carrying $90k worth of iphones around NYC without armed protection any time of the day is risky. At 1:45 AM? Dumb.

He must have bought online and just picked up there...I can't believe that any form of payment would have gone through at that time of day (and I seriously doubt that Apple would accept that much cash).

Lol payments don’t go through at 1:00AM?! Also, Apple is in the business of accepting money. I don’t think they give a rat’s butt if you are using cash or credit.
 
Buying 300 iPhones to resell them is one thing. But buying 300 iPhones from Apple paying the recommmended retail price? Probably trying to get his money back and to resell the $50 gift card?
 
He knew the people who robbed him, most likely. The punches in the face were to sell it. This guy will be filing a massive charge back on his credit card(s) or filing some insurance paperwork. He and his buddies will then sell the phones.
Alternatively, someone noticed he was doing stupid stuff like buying lots of easily-sellable merchandise at night and just made a play for it. If it's an insurance scam, I'd imagine he'll get caught because this seems like a really dumb and giant thing that some claims agent is absolutely going to investigate, and he doesn't seem like the brightest bulb.

Another possibility, it's late at night, some people cruising around decided to simply take advantage of the situation of passing by some fool with three massive Apple-branded bags on the street.

You don't really need to assume malice on the victim's part when stupidity explains a lot too.
 
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Victim blaming does suck, but you have to wonder about this guy. Why the odd hour? Did he pay in cash? This seems like a good way to get rid of ill-gotten cash through a front, but if he is a criminal doing this you'd think he'd be smart enough to be wary of other criminals since he's in that world.

The whole thing just smells fishy to me.
The “odd hour” is because, believe it or not, it is fairly quiet around there at that time and there is no traffic.
If it was arranged by the Business team, they should have had them drop-shipped to his business.
Did you know that money and valuable cargo are often sent in “inconspicuous” white vans instead of armored vehicles?
 
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He could have just had them delivered to his place of business instead. I am sure Apple does volume purchases.
 
Buying 300 iPhones to resell them is one thing. But buying 300 iPhones from Apple paying the recommmended retail price? Probably trying to get his money back and to resell the $50 gift card?
He must be selling them in Brazil or Turkey. Double the price if you have the right connections.
 
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