Two enterprising thieves stole over $16,000 worth of iPhones from an Apple store in an inventive new scam.
Police report that a man “dressed similarly” to store employees successfully looted the SoHo Apple Store in Manhattan, New York. The uniform-clad thief managed to make away with 19 brand new iPhones, worth a total value of $16,130, as first reported by DNA Info.
The thief, who was dressed in a blue t-shirt with an Apple logo – the standard store uniform – walked into the Apple store repair room at 17:30 on June 1. He picked up 19 iPhones from a drawer and then handed them over to a second thief, who hid the handsets under his shirt. Both of the phoney employees fled the scene, leaving the store staff scratching their heads.
Apple’s standard blue uniform
Police are now investigating the incident, but it’s not the first time this sort of heist has happened. Back in March, the New York Post reported that three thieves – two men and a woman – had swiped dozens of iPhones from another Apple Store in New York in two separate robberies.
The report read:
“A male cohort distracted the real workers, while another acted as a lookout during the heist. A man dressed as a worker walked over to the store’s Genius Bar help desk and snatched handfuls of new iPhone 6s from a storage drawer. He handed the batches off to a female accomplice hiding out in a nearby bathroom, where she stuffed them into a duffel bag.”
Apple has not publicly commented on the robberies.
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What’s the most inventive scam you’ve ever heard of? Let us know in the comments.
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Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
