If you thought a scam by students who stole almost $ 1 million from Apple with fake iPhones was too much, look at this: a gang in New York allegedly stole the equivalent of more than $ 19 million in iPhones in the last seven years, according to a new report from Quartz!
According to the publication, the six members of the gang were US carrier customers to buy new iPhones and other Apple products at a discount. Then the criminals sold the phones on the black market, which helped them escape the authorities for so long.
The victims of the scheme include an untold number of customers whose identities were stolen by the gang, as well as the unidentified carriers themselves, who normally paid for the duck. The gang's operations were relatively simple, according to the lawsuit filed in New York Court last April.
The thieves used counterfeit identities and debit cards at carrier stores and presented themselves as legitimate account holders to upgrade their devices from loyalty programs or trade-in.
They then spread the payments over many months and, of course, surprised the real customer who, upon receipt of the invoice, came across an unsolicited new device account. When they tried to act, it was: there were no more traces of either the scammers or illegitimately bought gadgets. To facilitate the scheme, the gang went through about 34 different US states, but most of the stolen devices were sold in the Bronx, New York.
It was during one of the US police investigations that one of the criminals (responsible for transporting the devices) was captured and agreed to help the authorities in return for a sentencing reduction. Police have seized about 39 packages since then, which contained approximately 250 iPhones, as well as dozens of fake credit cards, driver's licenses and passports.
The defendants in the scheme plead not guilty and were released on payment of $ 100,000 in security and are pending trial. Apple did not comment on the case.
via AppleInsider
