iPhone taken in 'crime spree' and more Capitol rioters arrested in the Apple Crime Blotter...

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No charges for Sen. Richard Burr, federal charges in iPhone-centered SBA fraud, an iPad damaged in a "wrong house" raid by Chicago police, and more in the Apple Crime Blotter.




The latest in an occasional AppleInsider series, looking at the world of Apple-related crime.

Federal indictments for two men accused in SBA-loans-for-iPhones scam

Two Massachusetts men who were arrested in December for an alleged fraud scheme involving fraudulent SBA disaster loans being used to buy iPhones have now been indicted on federal charges.

According to the Department of Justice release, the two 24-year-old men were each indicted on one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, four counts of wire fraud and aiding and abetting, and one count of aggravated identity theft. The two are accused of stealing people's identities, opening fraudulent bank accounts, and using those accounts to "purchase large numbers of iPhones for resale."

iPhone stolen, and Apple Pay used, as part of "crime spree"

A woman was arrested by the Halton Regional Police Service in Oakville, Ontario, for what they described as a "crime spree," consisting of 18 counts of nine different crimes committed between Christmas Eve and January 23.

The Oakville News reports the alleged crimes included the theft of an iPhone and the fraudulent use of its Apple Pay function. But the 30-year-old woman is accused of much more, including the theft of $66,000 worth of equipment from the Canadian offices of Rockstar Games, which are based in Oakville. The woman is also accused of stealing mail and a pair of jackets, one of which held car keys, which the woman allegedly used to steal a car.

In addition to numerous theft counts, which include theft of a motor vehicle and two counts of fraudulent use of a credit card -- presumably because of the Apple Pay charges -- the woman faces six counts of failing to comply with probation.

Woman in Singapore gets nine years for stealing 25,000 iPhones from repair company


A 40-year-old woman who worked as the logistics manager for a phone repair company in Singapore has been arrested on charges that she "misappropriated" more than 25,000 defective iPhones and conspired with a man in Malaysia to sell them overseas. The woman worked for Pegatron.

According to Channel News Asia, she was jailed for nine years, after pleading guilty to "conspiring to commit criminal breach of trust as a servant and using part of the criminal proceeds to buy a condominium apartment."

More Capitol riot participants arrested based on iPhone and iCloud evidence

We told you last time about several individuals who are facing charges in connection with the attack on the U.S. Capitol on January 6. Several of those people were either filmed by other users' iPhones or were caught by location data or their own social media posts, often from iPhones.

In the second half of January, several other people were arrested and charged, also because their iPhones gave them away. One man was arrested after posting a screenshot to Facebook of his iPhone showing the U.S. Senate's WiFi network.

One woman was arrested after she was filmed using a pink iPhone while in the Capitol.

The FBI arrested Justin McAuliffe, 39, of Long Island, after he posted a Facebook photo of his cellphone set to the Senate's public WiFi network. pic.twitter.com/Ct5mUnOAX5

-- Alan Feuer (@alanfeuer)


The Capitol riot participant known as "Zip Tie Guy," according to the criminal complaint filed against him, had shot incriminating video throughout the day with an iPhone mounted to his chest. It captured such potentially illegal actions as "stashing weapons prior to entering Capitol and how he came across flex cuffs."

No charges for Senator Burr, after iCloud data used in investigation

In the story of someone at the Capitol not potentially going to jail after all, the Justice Department announced on January 29 it had closed the investigation into suspicious stock trades by Sen. Richard Burr of North Carolina, which took place following a briefing last February about the approaching coronavirus. The New York Times reports Burr will not face charges.

In May of 2020, a warrant was served to Apple, to obtain Sen. Burr's iCloud data as part of an investigation into Burr's stock trades and the possibility of insider trading. The Republican senator, who also surrendered his iPhone to authorities, had made more than 30 stock sales in mid-February, the day after a briefing he received in his capacity as a senator.

Burr, four years before the iCloud warrant, had co-sponsored a bill that would have forced companies like Apple to provide confidential data about customers under investigation. The senator, who stepped down as chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee after the investigation was announced, is set to retire from the Senate in two years.

Gang in Hong Kong stole crypto from woman with iPhone

A criminal gang in Hong Kong recently pulled off a robbery in which they lured a female cryptocurrency trader to an office and stole the equivalent of $448,700 in cryptocurrency at knifepoint, via her iPhone. The South China Morning Post writes this is the second such recent theft of its kind in that city.

"Soon after she was handed the money, three men carrying either a knife or a rod rushed out from a room and snatched the money and the iPhone from her at knifepoint," police told the newspaper.

Armed robber stole iPhones from two stores

A man entered a Cricket Wireless store in South Carolina in mid-January and asked for an iPhone charger. Then, the man pulled a gun and asked for iPhones, getting away with three iPhone 11s, four iPhone SEs, five iPhone 12s, and six iPhone XRs, The Times and Democrat reported. A similar robbery took place the same day at a nearby Boost Mobile.

Woman says iPad was damaged in "wrong house" police raid

An Illinois woman told Chicago's CBS affiliate that the Chicago Police Department raided her home in 2019, causing thousands of dollars in damage to a television, a mattress, a mirror, and her daughter's iPad. But, the woman says the police had the wrong house.

The raid, which was attributed to a "bad tip" from an informant, has not resulted in any financial compensation for the woman, who lives in Calumet City outside of the city of Chicago. An insurance claim, she said, was denied because the damage was from a police raid.

Australian woman confronted kids who stole her iPhone

A woman in Perth, Australia, had her iPhone stolen along with her bag, and after police refused to investigate, she used Find My iPhone to track down the thieves, who turned out to be 10- and 12-year-old girls. According to 6PR, the two children "admitted to the theft in front of their mum and they showed me where my phone was in the drain completely smashed."

Two 15-year-olds arrested for T-Mobile theft

A pair of juveniles were apprehended near a T-Mobile Store in suburban Philadelphia in mid-January after they were spotted by a store employee attempting to steal iPhones from the display. After the suspects implied that they had guns, the store manager notified the local police, who apprehended the two suspects as well as a 17-year-old female acting as a getaway driver.

Crimewatch PA reports the group had traveled from Baltimore.

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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 13
    lkrupplkrupp Posts: 10,557member
    The insurgents acted on rage and when it all went south they scrambled to erase their online presence. Too late it would appear, cowards that they are. If you want to overthrow a democratically elected government then be proud of it instead of crawling into your spider-hole to hide.
    edited January 2021 DAalsethnapoleon_phoneapartOferkillroyjeffharrismuthuk_vanalingamCloudTalkin
  • Reply 2 of 13
    bonobobbonobob Posts: 382member
    lkrupp said:
    The insurgents acted on rage and when it all went south they scrambled to erase their online presence. Too late it would appear, cowards that they are. If you want to overthrow a democratically elected government then be proud of it instead of crawling into your spider-hole to hide.
    Yeah, not quite in "we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor" territory.
    GeorgeBMac
  • Reply 3 of 13
    lkrupp said:
    The insurgents acted on rage and when it all went south they scrambled to erase their online presence. Too late it would appear, cowards that they are. If you want to overthrow a democratically elected government then be proud of it instead of crawling into your spider-hole to hide.
    https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/13749423/black-lives-matter-activist-john-sullivan-charged/
  • Reply 4 of 13
    XedXed Posts: 2,540member
    lkrupp said:
    The insurgents acted on rage and when it all went south they scrambled to erase their online presence. Too late it would appear, cowards that they are. If you want to overthrow a democratically elected government then be proud of it instead of crawling into your spider-hole to hide.
    https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/13749423/black-lives-matter-activist-john-sullivan-charged/
    lkrupp makes a bi-partisan comment about idiot domestic terrorists, but you and your hateful, bigoted, pro-Trump wisdom have to drop a link to infer that it was Black Lives Matter that actually did all the terrorizing. Shameful in so many ways. 

    PS: You may want to keep a low profile  until those Jewish space lasers are offline.
    edited January 2021 jeffharrismuthuk_vanalingamGeorgeBMacCloudTalkin
  • Reply 5 of 13
    An Illinois woman told Chicago's CBS affiliate that the Chicago Police Department raided her home in 2019, causing thousands of dollars in damage to a television, a mattress, a mirror, and her daughter's iPad. But, the woman says the police had the wrong house. 

    The raid, which was attributed to a "bad tip" from an informant, has not resulted in any financial compensation for the woman, who lives in Calumet City outside of the city of Chicago. An insurance claim, she said, was denied because the damage was from a police raid.
    Yeah, she's SOL.  Police aren't responsible for damages incurred during their operations, even if they're later found to be based on incorrect information.  Police are under no obligation to investigate whether their information is correct before destroying someone's life or property.
    GeorgeBMac
  • Reply 6 of 13
    GeorgeBMacGeorgeBMac Posts: 11,421member

    Woman says iPad was damaged in "wrong house" police raid

    An Illinois woman told Chicago's CBS affiliate that the Chicago Police Department raided her home in 2019, causing thousands of dollars in damage to a television, a mattress, a mirror, and her daughter's iPad. But, the woman says the police had the wrong house.

    The raid, which was attributed to a "bad tip" from an informant, has not resulted in any financial compensation for the woman, who lives in Calumet City outside of the city of Chicago. An insurance claim, she said, was denied because the damage was from a police raid.
    Obviously this woman was black.   Police don't do this to white people in white neighborhoods.  But it, of course, it was not just an iPad.   Her home was attacked by an armed mob dressed in blue and ransacked.  And, of course, she gets zero compensation -- even though the police ransacked and destroyed the WRONG HOUSE!

    "They broke through this door,” she said while showing it no longer locks [the door is broken from when they kicked it in].

    Garner says officers also damaged property inside her home, including a television, mattress, bathroom vanity and her granddaughter’s iPad  [it is completely ransacked!].  It cost her thousands of dollars.

    “I have not gotten a dime,” said Garner about the city not compensating her.  She said she even tried to file an insurance claim, which was denied because the damage was from a police raid."


    Then, people wonder why these people would be upset.




    edited February 2021
  • Reply 7 of 13
    GeorgeBMacGeorgeBMac Posts: 11,421member
    lkrupp said:
    The insurgents acted on rage and when it all went south they scrambled to erase their online presence. Too late it would appear, cowards that they are. If you want to overthrow a democratically elected government then be proud of it instead of crawling into your spider-hole to hide.

    They have NOTHING to be proud of.  Zero.   Just shame -- if for nothing else than being incredibly stupid stooges who got conned by the Conman.
  • Reply 8 of 13
    GeorgeBMacGeorgeBMac Posts: 11,421member

    More Capitol riot participants arrested based on iPhone and iCloud evidence

    We told you last time about several individuals who are facing charges in connection with the attack on the U.S. Capitol on January 6. Several of those people were either filmed by other users' iPhones or were caught by location data or their own social media posts, often from iPhones.

    In the second half of January, several other people were arrested and charged, also because their iPhones gave them away. One man was arrested after posting a screenshot to Facebook of his iPhone showing the U.S. Senate's WiFi network.

    One woman was arrested after she was filmed using a pink iPhone while in the Capitol.

    The FBI arrested Justin McAuliffe, 39, of Long Island, after he posted a Facebook photo of his cellphone set to the Senate's public WiFi network. pic.twitter.com/Ct5mUnOAX5

    -- Alan Feuer (@alanfeuer)


    The Capitol riot participant known as "Zip Tie Guy," according to the criminal complaint filed against him, had shot incriminating video throughout the day with an iPhone mounted to his chest. It captured such potentially illegal actions as "stashing weapons prior to entering Capitol and how he came across flex cuffs."

    Most are being charged with nothing more than a legal equivalent of trespassing.

    Had they been black or Muslim they wouldn't be charged at all -- because they'd already be dead.

    When will the U.S. take domestic terrorism -- whether its gunning down school kids or invading its capital with the intent of undermining democracy or "shooting [the leader] in her brain" -- seriously?
  • Reply 9 of 13
    XedXed Posts: 2,540member

    More Capitol riot participants arrested based on iPhone and iCloud evidence

    We told you last time about several individuals who are facing charges in connection with the attack on the U.S. Capitol on January 6. Several of those people were either filmed by other users' iPhones or were caught by location data or their own social media posts, often from iPhones.

    In the second half of January, several other people were arrested and charged, also because their iPhones gave them away. One man was arrested after posting a screenshot to Facebook of his iPhone showing the U.S. Senate's WiFi network.

    One woman was arrested after she was filmed using a pink iPhone while in the Capitol.

    The FBI arrested Justin McAuliffe, 39, of Long Island, after he posted a Facebook photo of his cellphone set to the Senate's public WiFi network. pic.twitter.com/Ct5mUnOAX5

    -- Alan Feuer (@alanfeuer)


    The Capitol riot participant known as "Zip Tie Guy," according to the criminal complaint filed against him, had shot incriminating video throughout the day with an iPhone mounted to his chest. It captured such potentially illegal actions as "stashing weapons prior to entering Capitol and how he came across flex cuffs."

    Most are being charged with nothing more than a legal equivalent of trespassing.

    Had they been black or Muslim they wouldn't be charged at all -- because they'd already be dead.

    When will the U.S. take domestic terrorism -- whether its gunning down school kids or invading its capital with the intent of undermining democracy or "shooting [the leader] in her brain" -- seriously?
    In an interview with Bill Maher in the last few weeks (sorry, I forget the guy's name) he said that we apparently have no laws for this sort of thing which is why trespassing, destruction of property, and lewd behavior are the most common charges. It's just crazy to me that domestic terrorists who are part of a cult can't be tried as such.

    edit: It was Frank Figliuzzi from 2021-01-22, but that interview isn't on YouTube. You have to go HBO MAX to see it.
    edited February 2021 GeorgeBMacmuthuk_vanalingam
  • Reply 10 of 13
    GeorgeBMacGeorgeBMac Posts: 11,421member
    Xed said:

    More Capitol riot participants arrested based on iPhone and iCloud evidence

    We told you last time about several individuals who are facing charges in connection with the attack on the U.S. Capitol on January 6. Several of those people were either filmed by other users' iPhones or were caught by location data or their own social media posts, often from iPhones.

    In the second half of January, several other people were arrested and charged, also because their iPhones gave them away. One man was arrested after posting a screenshot to Facebook of his iPhone showing the U.S. Senate's WiFi network.

    One woman was arrested after she was filmed using a pink iPhone while in the Capitol.

    The FBI arrested Justin McAuliffe, 39, of Long Island, after he posted a Facebook photo of his cellphone set to the Senate's public WiFi network. pic.twitter.com/Ct5mUnOAX5

    -- Alan Feuer (@alanfeuer)


    The Capitol riot participant known as "Zip Tie Guy," according to the criminal complaint filed against him, had shot incriminating video throughout the day with an iPhone mounted to his chest. It captured such potentially illegal actions as "stashing weapons prior to entering Capitol and how he came across flex cuffs."

    Most are being charged with nothing more than a legal equivalent of trespassing.

    Had they been black or Muslim they wouldn't be charged at all -- because they'd already be dead.

    When will the U.S. take domestic terrorism -- whether its gunning down school kids or invading its capital with the intent of undermining democracy or "shooting [the leader] in her brain" -- seriously?
    In an interview with Bill Maher in the last few weeks (sorry, I forget the guy's name) he said that we apparently have no laws for this sort of thing which is why trespassing, destruction of property, and lewd behavior are the most common charges. It's just crazy to me that domestic terrorists who are part of a cult can't be tried as such.

    I'm sure that's the excuse  There's always an excuse...
    muthuk_vanalingam
  • Reply 11 of 13
    badmonkbadmonk Posts: 1,293member
    I, for one, will never tire of hearing of the endless misfortunes and stupidity of “Zip Tie Guy.”  The fact that he brought his mother to assist with the breach just amazes me.  

    It is also amazes me that he was not from Florida.

    But this batch of Apple Crime News was more depressing than most.

    But please don’t stop doing this feature Apple Insider.
    GeorgeBMac
  • Reply 12 of 13
    XedXed Posts: 2,540member
    badmonk said:
    I, for one, will never tire of hearing of the endless misfortunes and stupidity of “Zip Tie Guy.”  The fact that he brought his mother to assist with the breach just amazes me.  

    It is also amazes me that he was not from Florida.

    But this batch of Apple Crime News was more depressing than most.

    But please don’t stop doing this feature Apple Insider.
    I don't like calling him the zip tie guy. Those were cuffs for binds wrists and ankles. It would be like calling a guy that brought a plastic gun through a metal detector to assassinate someone "the 3D printer guy." It really undercuts the severity of the terrorism.
  • Reply 13 of 13
    GeorgeBMacGeorgeBMac Posts: 11,421member
    Xed said:
    badmonk said:
    I, for one, will never tire of hearing of the endless misfortunes and stupidity of “Zip Tie Guy.”  The fact that he brought his mother to assist with the breach just amazes me.  

    It is also amazes me that he was not from Florida.

    But this batch of Apple Crime News was more depressing than most.

    But please don’t stop doing this feature Apple Insider.
    I don't like calling him the zip tie guy. Those were cuffs for binds wrists and ankles. It would be like calling a guy that brought a plastic gun through a metal detector to assassinate someone "the 3D printer guy." It really undercuts the severity of the terrorism.
    Good point!
    But I really doubt that he was trying to marginalize the evil and the traitorous behavior of that idiot.

    In a way, "zip tie guy" does the opposite -- its an easy to remember one-liner that just rolls off the tongue and, if you know what happened, provides an image of a traitor trying undermine democracy by kidnapping or even killing the elected leaders of that democracy.

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