After two similar thefts at Apple Stores in the Los Angeles area, another has been reported. Meanwhile, a hit-and-run of a police car resulted in the discovery of a pile of stolen Macs and iPads.
The latest in an occasional AppleInsider series, looking at the world of Apple-related crime.
More laptop thefts from Apple Stores
In early December, there were a pair of reports that MacBooks were stolen from two different Apple Stores, both in Glendale, Calif. The customers who had ordered the computers showed up only to be told that someone else had impersonated the buyer and taken the item.
Now, there are reports that at least four such thefts have happened just in the Los Angeles area this month.
According to NBC Los Angeles, a thief used a fake ID and QR code to intercept a 16-inch MacBook Pro. One of the victims said he received a pending credit from Apple for the amount of the purchase.
After a theft was reported at a Nissan car dealership in Fort Myers, Fla., in early December, an AirPods signal led police to the stolen items and an arrest.
WINK reports $100,000 worth of toolboxes and tools had been stolen. One of those toolboxes contained the AirPods, so detectives from the Lee County Sheriff’s Office followed the signal to a storage facility.
The man renting a unit there was caught on surveillance footage loading the toolboxes in, and he turned out to have been a former employee of the dealership. Found at his current place of employment, a different dealership, the man was arrested and charged with larceny, grand theft, and burglary.
AirPods lead to arrests for car thefts
In another story involving stolen AirPods, police in Texas arrested two men after AirPods left behind in a stolen vehicle were traced to a house.
According to KURV, a search of the home led to firearms, and the arrest of the two men, who are suspected in “more than a dozen” car thefts.
Luigi Mangione mentioned Apple’s market capitalization in his manifesto
The man who has been charged in the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson mentioned Apple, and its market capitalization, in the brief “manifesto” that was found on his person when he was arrested in Pennsylvania.
According to a copy of the manifesto published by journalist Ken Klippenstein, Luigi Mangione had referenced Apple in comparison to the value of health care conglomerates.
“A reminder: the US has the #1 most expensive healthcare system in the world, yet we rank roughly #42 in life expectancy. United is the [indecipherable] largest company in the US by market cap, behind only Apple, Google, Walmart,” Mangione wrote in the document.
According to the website CompaniesMarketCap.com, Apple was the largest U.S. company by market cap as of market close on December 20, at $3.846 trillion. United Health was listed as the 17th-largest, at $460.26 billion.
On December 13, The BBC complained to Apple about an Apple Intelligence article summary that reported falsely that Mangione had shot himself.
Man accused of hitting police car had “dozens” of MacBooks
In late November, a Louisiana man was accused of hitting a police car and then fleeing. Then, police found MacBooks and iPads in the car.
KPLC explains the 27-year-old man was driving a Jeep that was “linked to a multi-agency theft case.” During a chase, he hit a police car, after which he and two passengers fled.
After he was caught on foot, the car was searched, and police found “34 MacBook Airs, five MacBook Pros, three iPad Pros, and various burglary tools and items.”
Ohio bans AirTag stalking
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine signed a new law on Dec. 19 to make it a crime to secretly track other people using AirTags or other tracking devices.
According to YKYC, the TV station claimed credit for bringing the issue to the fore in Ohio, with a series of reports about the practice and vulnerabilities in the state’s laws.
TikTok posts about credit card info stolen through AirDrop called a hoax
Some influencers on TikTok have been claiming that iPhone users should turn off AirDrop because hackers can steal their credit card information that way. Some versions have claimed that a “recent update” has made such a thing possible.
However, this has been debunked as a hoax by Lifehacker.
“AirDrop can’t interact with Apple Wallet,” the debunking says. “The feature can only share files accessible via the iPhone’s file browser, which isn’t where Apple Wallet stores information. And even if it were, Apple Wallet doesn’t actually have your credit card information.”
Several iPhone thefts in India
An iPhone belonging to a colonel in the city of Lucknow, in India, was stolen, and a “sophisticated inter-state cyber fraud gang” was accused of the crime.
According to The Times of India, two members of the gang have been caught in possession of seven stolen mobile phones and six SIM cards. The iPhone belonging to Colonel Santosh Kumar Mishra was taken from a fruit and vegetable market.
In another part of India, Gurgaon, an iPhone belonging to former Union minister of state KJ Alphons was stolen at a train station, The Times of India reported separately.
And also in India, police caught a gang who stole iPhones from a store in Jaipur in early November, and planned to smuggle them to Bangladesh, India Today reported.
