Thieves Tunnel Through Coffee Shop Wall to Steal $500,000 in iPhones From Washington Apple Store

[Syk]

I'm surprised Apple didn't have motion sensors that would set off the alarm, crazy that they where able to get around the coffee shop place security too

 

[tridley68]

Wonder if all the labor involved in turning these into parts is really going to be worth it .

 

[Arran]

Something tells me that absolutely no one is working this hard to tunnel into the Microsoft store. (PS: Welcome to the Social!)

Tunnel out more like.

 

[Robert.Walter]

Oceans 16.4.1 !

 

[Verified Whiskey]

I think we all have the same question: what'd that guy's wife do later that night on the way to the grocery store?

Later that night on the way to the grocery store my wife and I happened upon a truck pulled over to the side of the road, the driver was giving the passenger really bad CPR. My wife and I jumped into action. I pulled the woman from the truck and my wife began CPR while coaching the other person what to do. 5 minutes-ish later medics arrived and they were able to revive her before loading her into an ambulance.

Apparently… be a freakin super hero?? 💪🏻

 

[PinkyMacGodess]

It's like an alternate reality (and awful) Ocean's 11.

Not at all very creative. And Apple no doubt has all o those serial and IMEI numbers, so an even more empty crime too. Good grief...

 

[citysnaps]

Kind of surprises me how the store had hundreds of iphones in stock. atop of other devices of course...

Not a huge surprise as Apple sells 600,000+ iPhones (on the average) everyday of the year.

 

[0924487]

wait till you see the local craiglist have a ton more phones popping up for sale

Won’t be local I reckon.

 

[0924487]

Doesn't it need an active Internet connection for that?

No. It will use UWB and Find My mesh network.

 

[0924487]

So at least we know that none of the robbers were female.

The would be female robbers are doing OF and stuff instead.

 

[compwiz1202]

What did you think? They were going to build Fort Knox? It’s a retail stock room…they are all like this. It’s not a bank.

This makes me once again think of that movie where the door was super secure, but then he just punched through the wall and opened it from the inside.

 

[3xBoom]

Apple has cleared out its iPhone12 mini stock in this one amazing move...

 

[jazz1]

I hate the fact they left the 🚽 Toilet Seat wide open. No consideration! They could have closed it. 😭😭

View attachment 2185496

Must have been men burglars!

 

[andrewsinclair]

The headline here annoys me. This happened in a suburb of Seattle so "Washington" is correct but not very clear. The store was Seattle Coffee Gear, which is a coffee equipment retailer. I think most people have a different understanding of "coffee shop".

 

[Menthol]

I hate the fact they left the 🚽 Toilet Seat wide open. No consideration! They could have closed it. 😭😭

View attachment 2185496

The seat is up. The thieves were male!

When do I get my detective badge?

 

[compwiz1202]

Yes, but that only hurts the end user - who likely had nothing to do with the theft or any knowledge that they are purchasing a stolen phone. It doesn't hurt the thieves at all.

Buyers can check the IMEI; although, the issue is how quickly will Apple blacklist them. If they sell fast, they may beat Apple to the punch. If they even sell them at all instead of salvaging them and selling parts.

 

[compwiz1202]

I wonder if Apple would go after the coffee store in a lawsuit for lax security.

No, Apple should lockdown the merch and have stronger stockroom walls.

 

[compwiz1202]

Solved! Andy Dufresne did it with the Rock Hammer in the Restroom!

 

[Kuckuckstein]

How can they even be activated? Are they scrapped for parts, sold in China or simply sold to unsuspecting buyers who don't know they're stolen? I always figured cellphone theft was a waste because of the IMEI number.

For making money: Does it matter if you can activate them? They are still sealed in the original package. They won’t be usable but to the unaware buyer they will be the real deal.

And then you wake up …

Don’t want to be one of them who buy these devices.

 

[FlyingTexan]

I'm pretty sure these iPhones are traceable and they do become useless once stolen (Serial #, IMEI #, etc). But how can someone carry almost 500 iPhones? That's the main question!

Yea I doubt they’re usable at all. Only option for them would be to sell them super cheapZ doesn’t seem well thought out

 

[Ubele]

The seat is up. The thieves were male!

When do I get my detective badge?

Not so fast... If I were a woman burglar, I would have left the seat up to make everyone think the burglar was a man.

 

[raindogg]

Can Apple just lock these phones so they can't be used?

I worked at an Apple Retail store for years, they do have cages but they didn't look that hard to break into. All you would need is a bolt cutter.

 

[grjj]

No, Apple should lockdown the merch and have stronger stockroom walls.

Agreed.
When I worked at an AAR a long while back we did just that, rebar and other security measures in the walls and ceiling to prevent intrusion from unusual directions. People focus on the door, but usually ignore the drywall and sheet-metal ceiling.

 

[Ubele]

"Mr. Pink, we need you to write 436 'sealed-in-box iPhone for sale' ads and spread 'em around eBay, Craigslist, and Facebook Marketplace. Make 'em all seem like different people wrote 'em. You'll need to create 436 different accounts."

"How come I gotta do it? Why can't Mr. Orange do it?"

"'Cause you didn't fill up the getaway car afterward, like you were supposed to, and Mr. Orange ran out of gas and got stranded in Kirkland. Mr. Blonde ain't happy about that."

"How come I can't just post one ad: '436 sealed-in-box iPhones for sale'?"

"Don't be an idiot."

 

[Blue Nova]

I’m sure the loss for Apple was not exactly $500,000. That’s the consumer price that they would have made if they sold them, but the loss figure I guess would be about 33% of that.