Except this wasn’t in Seattle. Please learn the basic facts of a story before commenting.
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Thieves Tunnel Through Coffee Shop Wall to Steal $500,000 in iPhones From Washington Apple Store
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I imagine if they business sues them for restitution. Other than that probably just jail time.
I don't see how people can make any money off of stealing something that can be notified unless they are using them for parts.
An Apple Store at the Alderwood Mall was robbed last weekend, with thieves infiltrating the location through a nearby coffee shop. According to Seattle's King 5 News, thieves broke into Seattle Coffee Gear, went into the bathroom, and cut a hole in the wall to get to the Apple Store backroom.
The burglars were able to bypass the Apple Store's security system by using the adjacent coffee shop, stealing a total of 436 iPhones that were worth around $500,000.
According to Seattle Coffee Gear manager Eric Marks, the coffee shop is not noticeably adjacent to the Apple Store because of the way that the store is laid out. "I would have never suspected we were adjacent to the Apple Store, how it wraps around I mean," Marks told King 5 News. "So, someone really had to think it out and have access to the mall layout."
Police were able to obtain surveillance footage of the theft, but as it is part of an active investigation, it has not yet been released. Nothing was stolen from the coffee shop, but it will cost $1,500 to replace locks and repair the bathroom wall.
No employees were at the Apple Store when the theft happened as the Alderwood Mall had closed for the night. An Alderwood spokesperson said they were working with the police to solve the incident, but Apple has not yet commented.
Article Link: Washington Apple Store Robbed of $500,000 in iPhones After Thieves Tunnel Through Coffee Shop Wall
Until 2020-2021, that Apple Store, was a rectangle. When they remodeled it, they expanded the retail space, and encroached on the adjacent suite. I would suspect that someone from the construction company or someone with access to city or mall plans would know about the change. I'm more surprised that Apple didn't have some sort of fortification in the walls, like cinderblocks, metal sheeting, or just a concrete wall.
Huh? because someone being able to activate and use a stolen iPhone is not a good look for Apple and any stolen device that can be used is not a good. If I could buy a stolen iPhone 14 PM for say $500 and activate it and have apple care and blah blah with no issues then that isn't a good look.
Now how it is now if you buy a stolen iPhone then Apple can blacklist the device and you will not even be able to basically anything on it since you need to log into an Apple ID even if you don't plan on using it as a phone. Say I buy this stolen phone before it gets blacklisted on Apple side so I am in the phone now, well the whenever the phone does get blacklisted it will also be known to the carriers and the carriers will basically make it not usable because they will not allow service on the device
Pretty sure the idea is to part the phones out for screens, batteries, etc. And of course a lot of people these days have the skills to do component-level repair. The thieves definitely won't make full market value on selling the parts, but since the cost of actually getting the merchandise was only slightly more than zero, it's still a profitable venture.
Which sadly gives Apple even more of a justification to engage in their anti-repair practices. Serializing the screen and battery and so on make stolen phones much, much less valuable.
We can argue about profit motives for anti-repair practices all day, but there's plenty of blame to lay at the feet of criminals like these.
She did not mean "Apple" but an employee of the store.what exactly doeshave to gain from this…?
I think it shows these thieves were men lol
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Old employee here. Unfortunately items that are stolen are not locked from becoming activated or locked from use using the serial numbers. The only thing that will happen is that they will be marked as stolen so if a phone is brought to an Apple Store for an appointment it will be denied support. They will still be functioning devices. This is so people who unknowingly purchase the devices third party from the thieves are not without a device and the money. They will also not be traced as it is against Apple's privacy policies. It sucks, and the loss prevention teams hate this rule, but it makes sense. Apple will file an insurance claim for the damages of the stolen devices.
Those phones might be outdated before they get to sell them.
An Apple Store at the Alderwood Mall was burgled last weekend, with thieves infiltrating the location through a nearby coffee shop. According to Seattle's King 5 News, thieves broke into Seattle Coffee Gear, went into the bathroom, and cut a hole in the wall to get to the Apple Store backroom.
The burglars were able to bypass the Apple Store's security system by using the adjacent coffee shop, stealing a total of 436 iPhones that were worth around $500,000.
According to Seattle Coffee Gear manager Eric Marks, the coffee shop is not noticeably adjacent to the Apple Store because of the way that the store is laid out. "I would have never suspected we were adjacent to the Apple Store, how it wraps around I mean," Marks told King 5 News. "So, someone really had to think it out and have access to the mall layout."
Police were able to obtain surveillance footage of the theft, but as it is part of an active investigation, it has not yet been released. Nothing was stolen from the coffee shop, but it will cost $1,500 to replace locks and repair the bathroom wall.
No employees were at the Apple Store when the theft happened as the Alderwood Mall had closed for the night. An Alderwood spokesperson said they were working with the police to solve the incident, but Apple has not yet commented.
Article Link: Thieves Tunnel Through Coffee Shop Wall to Steal $500,000 in iPhones From Washington Apple Store
I suspected this would be the case. But it must piss off their insurers as well.
People need to remember, criminals of all types all around the world use mobile phones to conduct their business whether it be android phones or Apple iphones and one thing they need to do is stay off the radar because if memory serves me right some years ago the FBI and other countries security services was able to track a consignment of legitimately purchased mobile phone spare parts to a criminal drug gang in South America. With stolen phone parts criminals can stay undetected.
So it's ok to mark it "stolen" and deny support, but deactivating and tracing it is not ok? Um, ok Apple.
I suspect that’s because to get support the user has handed over their personal details willingly to Apple so have consented to Apple doing those checks. In the other instance the user hasn’t consented to handing over their device information for Apple to take any action.
You forgot to factor in the price of today’s iPhones. That was like… 7.
You're probably onto something there.
Who is the true victim? The person who bought his iPhone legitimately from Apple/Verizon/ATT/etc and then it was stolen... or the person who unwittingly bought that stolen iPhone at a huge discount via Craigslist?
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I am surprised Apple had such a poor security system. Simple Motion detectors in all rooms could have caught the thieves.
An Apple Store at the Alderwood Mall was burgled last weekend, with thieves infiltrating the location through a nearby coffee shop. According to Seattle's King 5 News, thieves broke into Seattle Coffee Gear, went into the bathroom, and cut a hole in the wall to get to the Apple Store backroom.
The burglars were able to bypass the Apple Store's security system by using the adjacent coffee shop, stealing a total of 436 iPhones that were worth around $500,000.
According to Seattle Coffee Gear manager Eric Marks, the coffee shop is not noticeably adjacent to the Apple Store because of the way that the store is laid out. "I would have never suspected we were adjacent to the Apple Store, how it wraps around I mean," Marks told King 5 News. "So, someone really had to think it out and have access to the mall layout."
Police were able to obtain surveillance footage of the theft, but as it is part of an active investigation, it has not yet been released. Nothing was stolen from the coffee shop, but it will cost $1,500 to replace locks and repair the bathroom wall.
No employees were at the Apple Store when the theft happened as the Alderwood Mall had closed for the night. An Alderwood spokesperson said they were working with the police to solve the incident, but Apple has not yet commented.
Article Link: Thieves Tunnel Through Coffee Shop Wall to Steal $500,000 in iPhones From Washington Apple Store
Apple self-insures - that is eats the loss. It is cheaper in the long run. That cost is factored into the cost of the phone so basically it is paid for by their customers.
I really like the way you think. That does seem like a very obvious loophole that would allow Apple to track thieves 🤔. If it’s not the thief’s device, the thief did not agree to the terms & conditions which presumably is where is states you will not be tracked?