Apple devices have good resale value, unfortunately this makes them an attractive target for thieves, as evident by the frequent stories about stolen iPhones and iPads. Another such incident took place in Madison, U.S. a few days ago, where a group of thieves bought iPhones worth $14,000 using fake gift cards, but were later arrested by the police with the assistance of a few Apple Store employees.
According to Apple, the thieves were part of a larger fraud ring, and after learning about the theft, the company circulated photos of the suspects in all Apple Stores. So when these thieves walked into an Apple Store in West Towne Mall, Madison, employees recognised them:
They called police, while a clerk artfully stalled the transaction by doing things like intentionally messing up the scanning process at the point of purchase. He even made small talk, asking the suspects why they would need 20 iPhone 5s. One said they were rappers and wanted to provide iPhones to their “posse.” Eventually the suspects became frustrated and indicated they would come back later to complete the purchase. Little did they know that the clerk had bought valuable time; time needed for officers to get into position outside of the mall. An Apple employee took off his company shirt, and followed the suspects out. He was now wearing a plain white t-shirt. Officers were told to look for him, as the suspects would be just ahead of him. It worked like clockwork: just as soon as [their car] started to move, it was pulled over.
Apple does have a tool called Find my iPhone to track and disable stolen iOS devices, but in cases like these, where the device boxes haven’t even been opened, these tools become useless.
For further details about the arrest, head over to Madison’s Police Department website.