$1.5M in iPad minis stolen from JFK airport in 'GoodFellas' style heist

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  • Reply 61 of 79

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by beakernx01 View Post



    Selling them domestically would leave to many trails pointing back to the thieves. I would imagine they'll be reboxed and sold overseas where then they'd be sold globally, including back into the US through ebay like outlets.


     


    These thieves are so sophisticated that they probably took pre-orders before the heist. 

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  • Reply 62 of 79


    In addition to smartphones and tablets that are "shipped" v. "sold", we will now have to debate the "stolen" category. I am willing to bet that Apple leads this one.

     

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  • Reply 63 of 79

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by JBlongz View Post



    Apple will NOT block/deactivate the minis. And whoever buys them will have no issues getting it to work. Apple does not implement a system to recover the devices after they have been sold to potential buyers. Their security infrastructure is depends on theft prevention. After that, its up to 3rd party/contracted security to recover the items before sold. This used to be a part of Tim Cook's responsibility before assuming CEO.




    Not true.

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  • Reply 64 of 79

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by massconn72 View Post



    Am I wrong or are these Minis useless to anybody that tries to register them? I assume that all of the serial numbers are know and that if that number comes up somewhere at registration time it won't work? Rendering them so much dead weight?


     


    Oh hey, that one's easy. Don't you know, take some sandpaper and just shave 'em off! Bada bing!

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  • Reply 65 of 79
    mstonemstone Posts: 11,510member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by ankleskater View Post


    In addition to smartphones and tablets that are "shipped" v. "sold", we will now have to debate the "stolen" category. I am willing to bet that Apple leads this one.

     



    There is also the resold category which I'm sure Apple leads as well. I just sold my MBP to a friend today. I always keep the packaging for all my Apple products just for that reason. He bought my MBP for his 7 year old son's Christmas gift. It looks absolutely pristine with all the cable ties and plastic packaging for the adapters, etc. His son will not be disappointed. It looks like brand new.

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  • Reply 66 of 79


    Ouch!  I knew that life in China is ugly and mostly unfair, but that is just tyranical

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  • Reply 67 of 79
    chris_cachris_ca Posts: 2,543member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by AppleInsider View Post



    That same building was the site of the 1978 Lufthansa heist in which $5 million in cash and $875,000 worth of jewelry were stolen ? the largest cash robbery to ever occur on U.S. soil. 


    at that time.


    Since then, there are other robberies with far greater amount of cash stolen.

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  • Reply 68 of 79
    fracfrac Posts: 480member
    Apple operates one of the most sophisticated stock control, year-round volume shipping and distribution channels the world has seen.

    Of course they know where they are now....and also how they are travelling, the speed they are travelling at, their altitude and ambient temperature. GPS trackers in every crate are commonplace for high value goods. There is control at every point in the chain and you get a subset of the data to help you track your purchase.

    Hasn't anybody else heard of 'manager's specials'? - they come fully charged and activated, sometimes containing just a phone with gps. It's so easy to do and a regular part of control and security.

    Will Apple cripple them 'if' they can? Hmmmn ...my bad PR sensor just lit up
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  • Reply 69 of 79
    andysolandysol Posts: 2,506member
    These thieves are so sophisticated that they probably took pre-orders before the heist. 

    And they're gonna have supply chain problems because they only got 2 of the 5 pallets
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  • Reply 70 of 79

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by paxman View Post


    What? Well, unless it was made of silver (out of necessity).



    Cost to the State. It does make sense. Why would the People (citizens from the People's Republic of China) bear the cost of even a bullet, if it is the (purported) Professor's fault if he had to be executed, after all?


     


    It's in the end an age-old debate: when does it become "normal" that the Community pays for an Individual's costs? Cultures solve that differently, communist countries, Europe and America all have differing methods.

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  • Reply 71 of 79

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Macnewsjunkie View Post


    Ouch!  I knew that life in China is ugly and mostly unfair, but that is just tyranical



    How is it not unfair that Goldman-Sachs is still allowed to operate? How is it not unfair that Bush is still free? How is it not unfair that Bhopal did not cause high-ranking US executives to spend the rest of their lives in prison? How is it not unfair that Monsanto still operates? How is it not unfair that Exxon still operates?  I could easily go on.


     


    Don't make me laugh. America enjoys a much higher level of freedom, but fairness doesn't exist there either. For the costs that humans have paid to offset the environmental, social, and financial costs of US big business and strategic requirements of the United States of America, you could buy a tremendous amount of chinese bullets. That is just as tyranical, only less direct.

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  • Reply 72 of 79


    Old, joke,.  Heard this 20 years ago.

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  • Reply 73 of 79

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by ankleskater View Post




    Not true.



     


    Is true. This is not the first time brand new sealed iPads with GPS have been stolen.  And none have been recovered using the iPads features. Opened and registered devices are a different story..and are only recovered if stolen AFTER registration.  Please feel free to prove otherwise.

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  • Reply 74 of 79

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by PhilBoogie View Post



    Explains the 2 week delivery time




    Yeah, less than 4,000 units really put Apple behind image

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  • Reply 75 of 79

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by lightknight View Post



    Also, the Mac laptops have an onboard chip that allows protecting the computer against theft by preventing reinstallation of the system. Combined with a secure password and automatic lock of the computer, it makes for a very secure platform (provided you don't ignore the feature and/or set your machine to no-password,autologin). If Apple provides these, I'd expect they also are capable of tracking mere unsold machines through their logistic chain...


     


    You have to set all that up after you turn on the computer. It's not just magically working anymore than "Find My" works before an iOS device is turned on. 


     


    And no, Apple doesn't know where every serial number is. The best they might know is that a certain number was sold to Best Buy but after that, who knows until it is sold and even then outside of perhaps the store of purchases, they know nothing. They can't thanks to various privacy laws. They are only able to have the whole Find My system because it is opt in by user choice and only the user can track the device. Even those federal laws about how cell companies have to be able to track any active cellular device don't help Apple since they wouldn't be issued the search warrant needed to look for an item (and it would have to be activated on a cell data network for that system to work anyway). 

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  • Reply 76 of 79
    solipsismxsolipsismx Posts: 19,566member
    charlituna wrote: »
    You have to set all that up after you turn on the computer. It's not just magically working anymore than "Find My" works before an iOS device is turned on.

    Off topic: I find it odd that iPhones, iPod Touches, iPads, iPad minis, and Macs can all be tracked but they still call the service Find My iPhone.
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  • Reply 77 of 79

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by JBlongz View Post



    Apple will NOT block/deactivate the minis. And whoever buys them will have no issues getting it to work. 


     


    However, if they can't prove proof of purchase from a valid retailer they will be SOL if the dang things are defective. Because they won't be in Apple's warranty system. 


     


    So in that way these folks will be dinged for their purchase. 

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  • Reply 78 of 79

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by SockRolid View Post


     


    But not before they are set into Lost Mode by the Find my iPad feature of iOS 6.


     


     



     


    Nope. Lost Mode can't be turned on until there is an iCloud account signed into on the iPads which happens when you turn it on. And Apple would have to know the ID and password of said account which they don't. 

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  • Reply 79 of 79

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by SolipsismX View Post





    Off topic: I find it odd that iPhones, iPod Touches, iPads, iPad minis, and Macs can all be tracked but they still call the service Find My iPhone.


     


    True Story: The real reason Forstall was fired wasn't cause of the massive list of bugs in iOS 6, the maps thing or even how he was a raging douchebag with no respect for anyone in the company. Nope, Tim fired him for proposing that they change the service to "Find My Shit"

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