Thieves grab over 300 iPhone X units off delivery truck in San Francisco
Some people expecting to buy an iPhone X in San Francisco on Friday may be disappointed, as 313 units were stolen from a local UPS truck earlier this week.
The truck was delivering the iPhones to Apple Stonestown on Wednesday, CNET noted, citing a police report and TV station KTSF. The break-in is said to have been committed by three "husky" men driving a white Dodge van, between 11:15 and 11:30 a.m.
The UPS driver reportedly locked up the truck's cargo area, but a janitor took a photo of the suspects hauling boxes into their van.
The value of the stolen iPhones is estimated at $370,000. Each one had its description and serial number catalogued, which could potentialy make them easier to track down, if not necessarily in time to prevent some buyers from being scammed.
The iPhone X is likely to be high-profile target for both thieves and scalpers, owing not just to its $999 retail cost but its relative scarcity. One of the first legal purchases in Australia was by a man who intended to resell his phones at nearly double their normal price.
People who scheduled preorder pickup at Apple Stonestown will still get their iPhone X on time, according to a CNET source.
The truck was delivering the iPhones to Apple Stonestown on Wednesday, CNET noted, citing a police report and TV station KTSF. The break-in is said to have been committed by three "husky" men driving a white Dodge van, between 11:15 and 11:30 a.m.
The UPS driver reportedly locked up the truck's cargo area, but a janitor took a photo of the suspects hauling boxes into their van.
The value of the stolen iPhones is estimated at $370,000. Each one had its description and serial number catalogued, which could potentialy make them easier to track down, if not necessarily in time to prevent some buyers from being scammed.
The iPhone X is likely to be high-profile target for both thieves and scalpers, owing not just to its $999 retail cost but its relative scarcity. One of the first legal purchases in Australia was by a man who intended to resell his phones at nearly double their normal price.
People who scheduled preorder pickup at Apple Stonestown will still get their iPhone X on time, according to a CNET source.
Comments
Even if they do get away with it in the short term, Apple and authorities will likely not let it go, just like we saw with a Romanian gang stealing iPhones off the back of a moving truck like it's a Fast and Furious movie.
If these make their way to Ebay, it would be unfair to the buyers since there's no way to find out if the phone is stolen or not.
However, that would leave a digital trail to the thieves.
I'm not sure about Craiglist or buying these from the back of a truck in a dimly lit street. People buying stuff that way are asking for trouble.
But as Soli said, even if they make it out of the country, in the long run they will be traced.
You get it when you get it. But at least you won't find yourself buying stolen property if you buy it from someone off the street. Or worse yet a fake one that doesn't even work.
TUESDAY - the Google Marketing team finally convinced the executive staff to adopt the their newest offering in an effort to bolster the idea that people who could afford other phones would choose the Pixel 2. The entire executive staff agreed with the caveat that they were highly secure to protect against the typical Android Spyware and viruses that could otherwise compromise corporate secrets.
WEDNESDAY - after firing the Marketing team, Larry Page told his engineering team that a phone without an operating system is not quite what they had in mind and explained that the whole lot of them would be looking for jobs if they could not find suitable phones within 24 hours.
THURSDAY - A "husky" engineering team was photographed by a janitor while stealing iPhones from a UPS van. The team's white Dodge van full of iPhones then hurriedly sped away in the general direction of Google.
FRIDAY - You decide!