New York Apple Store stabbing and an iCloud hacker in the Apple Crime Blotter

AppleInsider · October 24, 2021 12:35PM

An official guilty plea from an iCloud nudes hacker, fake Mark Zuckerberg arrested in Africa, an iPad stolen from car in Atlanta, and more in the latest Apple Crime Blotter.

The Apple Store in the Meatpacking District in New York

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

No arrests reported in New York Apple Store stabbing

Two weeks after a security guard was stabbed inside Manhattan's Meatpacking District Apple Store, there have been no reports of an arrest in the case.

In early October, a man who had been asked to wear a mask inside that downtown Manhattan Apple Store reportedly reacted by stabbing a security guard. According to The New York Daily News, the customer and guard had argued, leading to the stabbing. Video of the stabbing was later obtained and aired by New York's ABC channel.

The guard was "wounded in the arm and head," a police source said, although he survived the attack. A "trail of blood" was also reported inside the store, on 14th Street and 9th Avenue.

"icloudripper4you" hacker formally pleads guilty

It was reported back in August that the hacker known as "icloudripper4you" had agreed to plead guilty to charges that he hacked into the iCloud accounts of more than 300 people, mostly to steal nude photos on behalf of clients.

On October 15, the Department of Justice announced that the man had officially pled guilty that day to conspiracy and computer fraud. He faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison for his part in the conspiracy.

Employment scammers are asking for iPhones and iPads

Mashable reported on October 22 about a growing scam in which fake employees place ads, pretend to hire people, and then ask the new "employees" to purchase iPhones and iPads.

The scammers then say the marks need to send their devices to an address in Queens to be outfitted with software. Some have been asked to pay the scammers an "installation fee."

Instead, the devices are sent to a shipping center near JFK Airport and end up shipped to Nigeria, where the scam is believed to have originated. At least some of the listings were for jobs at Mashable itself.

"Blaring smartphone" in college class leads to recovery of stolen AirPods

A college student in Texas whose AirPods had been stolen was able to find them after an alert in one of her classes let her know the AirPods were nearby and needed charging.

According to Texoma's Homepage, she then connected her iPhone to them, which disconnected the suspected thief's phone- and caused his phone to suddenly begin to play loud music. He immediately left the classroom, and following a confrontation, campus police arrested the student, who was shown on surveillance video taking the AirPods.

He later returned the AirPods, but "was very belligerent and called her a snitch and various other names," the report said.

Apple Watch leads to arrest in Ontario of a man sleeping in a shed

A man suspected of breaking and entering at a residence in Peterborough, Ontario, was located by police after they tracked him using a stolen Apple Watch.

GlobalNews.ca reports the owner activated Find My iPhone from their iPhone. This led police to a different house, where the suspect was found sleeping in a backyard shed.

"Mark Zuckerberg" has iPhone seized after conviction in Nigeria

An imposter falsely claiming online to be Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg has been convicted in Nigeria on a variety of cybercrime charges. PM News Nigeria says the bogus Zuckerberg was convicted in October for "[offenses] bordering on personation and cybercrime."

The fake Zuckerberg was ordered to surrender his iPhone 12 Pro, among other possessions, in order to make restitution.

The real Mark Zuckerberg visited Nigeria in 2016.

Woman's Apple Watch ping alerted her of T-Mobile employee's sending of intimate videos

A Texas woman says that she caught a T-Mobile store employee sending himself private videos from a hidden folder on her phone- and was alerted to it by an Apple Watch notification.

According to KTRK, the woman became aware that the videos had been sent to an unfamiliar number, eventually figuring out that it had been a store employee. She went to confront the employee, in a conversation that was recorded and aired on the news broadcast.

The man apologized, and T-Mobile confirmed to the station that he no longer works at the store.

iPad among items stolen from running car in Atlanta

A rental car left running in Atlanta's midtown area had more than $20,000 of property stolen, including an iPad. CBS 46 reports the items were stolen by a thief on a Bird scooter who jumped into the running vehicle.

Also stolen were camera equipment, two laptops, two phones, and a wallet.

iPhone theft led to "teen melee"

A dispute over an iPhone led to a brawl on September 28, among as many as 30 people in a Casa Grande parking lot in Sonoma County, Calif.

According to Sonoma News, a 15-year-old girl claimed a pair of 17-year-olds took her purse and iPhone, which escalated into a fight involving dozens of others.

Read on AppleInsider

winstoner71 · October 24, 2021 4:22PM

“You called the cops on me because I stole something from you??! How dare you?! SNITCH!”

I really hate people.

lkrupp · October 24, 2021 4:31PM

"He later returned the AirPods, but "was very belligerent and called her a snitch and various other names," the report said.”

With states like California effectively decriminalizing shop lifting and theft it’s no wonder the perp was upset he had to give back the stolen property, even in Texas. Thieves are getting the message all over the country. In California keep the theft under $950 and you’re good to go. No enforcement. Of course if the shop owner tries to stop the thief the owner will likely be arrested for assault. Isn't liberal America a great place to live!

zeus423 · October 25, 2021 2:58AM

Mostly peaceful shoplifters

tommikele · October 25, 2021 6:22AM

Bosa said:

lkrupp said:

"He later returned the AirPods, but "was very belligerent and called her a snitch and various other names," the report said.”

With states like California effectively decriminalizing shop lifting and theft it’s no wonder the perp was upset he had to give back the stolen property, even in Texas. Thieves are getting the message all over the country. In California keep the theft under $950 and you’re good to go. No enforcement. Of course if the shop owner tries to stop the thief the owner will likely be arrested for assault. Isn't liberal America a great place to live!

You are exactly right. People must use their brains when they vote next time and not just use brain dead logic like “I hate the mean tweets”

You two need to put a cork into your political garbage. Take it somewhere else.

if you took the time to review petty theft laws in states you would find the limitations to run from a low of $500 to as high as $1250. Your inference that California is somehow legalizing petty theft and doing something almost no one else is wrong and wreaks of politically motivated BS. Texas, all your favorite right wing controlled states are right in there.

The ignorance you two display is unfortunate, but not uncommon. I hate ignorance and lazy liars who don’t bother with any attempt to learn the facts. Learn them.

Wgkrueger · October 25, 2021 8:20AM

tommikele said:

Bosa said:

lkrupp said:

"He later returned the AirPods, but "was very belligerent and called her a snitch and various other names," the report said.”

With states like California effectively decriminalizing shop lifting and theft it’s no wonder the perp was upset he had to give back the stolen property, even in Texas. Thieves are getting the message all over the country. In California keep the theft under $950 and you’re good to go. No enforcement. Of course if the shop owner tries to stop the thief the owner will likely be arrested for assault. Isn't liberal America a great place to live!

You are exactly right. People must use their brains when they vote next time and not just use brain dead logic like “I hate the mean tweets”

You two need to put a cork into your political garbage. Take it somewhere else.

if you took the time to review petty theft laws in states you would find the limitations to run from a low of $500 to as high as $1250. Your inference that California is somehow legalizing petty theft and doing something almost no one else is wrong and wreaks of politically motivated BS. Texas, all your favorite right wing controlled states are right in there.

The ignorance you two display is unfortunate, but not uncommon. I hate ignorance and lazy liars who don’t bother with any attempt to learn the facts. Learn them.

I was trying to come up with a reply to these two when I read yours. Thanks!

hexclock · October 25, 2021 3:58PM

Even if the person who stabbed the security guard was caught, they’d be let out with out bail thanks to NY’s stupid bail reform laws.

maestro64 · October 25, 2021 5:38PM

tommikele said:

Bosa said:

lkrupp said:

"He later returned the AirPods, but "was very belligerent and called her a snitch and various other names," the report said.”

With states like California effectively decriminalizing shop lifting and theft it’s no wonder the perp was upset he had to give back the stolen property, even in Texas. Thieves are getting the message all over the country. In California keep the theft under $950 and you’re good to go. No enforcement. Of course if the shop owner tries to stop the thief the owner will likely be arrested for assault. Isn't liberal America a great place to live!

You are exactly right. People must use their brains when they vote next time and not just use brain dead logic like “I hate the mean tweets”

You two need to put a cork into your political garbage. Take it somewhere else.

if you took the time to review petty theft laws in states you would find the limitations to run from a low of $500 to as high as $1250. Your inference that California is somehow legalizing petty theft and doing something almost no one else is wrong and wreaks of politically motivated BS. Texas, all your favorite right wing controlled states are right in there.

The ignorance you two display is unfortunate, but not uncommon. I hate ignorance and lazy liars who don’t bother with any attempt to learn the facts. Learn them.

You are correct all states have limits on petty thefts, before it becomes a more serious crime. Most all those laws, state the government would only prosecute them as misdemeanors and it requires the business where the offense happened to pursue charges against the person. This means it does not tie up a DA to handle these cases. Also in all those states the police will show up and arrest the person and put in a criminal complaint against the person. Most large stores choose not to purse these measures since it is cost prohibitive to pursue chargers against small theft. They choose to put them on do not enter lists and store security watch for them, if they show up they walk them out and refuse them entry. Which is in their rights. If store have a cronic issue with the invidivual they will eventuall press charges against the person.

SF total deciminize petty theif so stores can not longer go after the person. No where in this country other than SF and now a few other cities can people walk in a store and take what they want and walk out without any consequences, the police will not show up if called, the police are not allow to arrest them or ticket them. The store owner may try to go after the person civilly in small claims court but none of these actions will every show up on a person records as being a thief.

The only ignorance is the lack of understand how laws affect peoples behaviors and the fact the people changing the laws thought they were some how making things better, yes better for the thief since there is no record of their poor decisions in life so they can continue doing it over an over again. But worse for everyone else since now businesses are leaving. We all know SF is loosing businesss like Walgreens due to the change in enforcement. Show us where other cities which are enforecing petty theifs laws are loosing business.

May be you need to learn the fact about how SF actually change the laws it was not just increasing the $ value of the offence, it was the actual enforcement of the law which also changes. They decriminalize any theft under $1000. All other places will still treat you as criminal if you are caught stealing at any value. The theft value dictates the consequences.

ronn · October 25, 2021 6:20PM

tommikele said:

Bosa said:

lkrupp said:

"He later returned the AirPods, but "was very belligerent and called her a snitch and various other names," the report said.”

With states like California effectively decriminalizing shop lifting and theft it’s no wonder the perp was upset he had to give back the stolen property, even in Texas. Thieves are getting the message all over the country. In California keep the theft under $950 and you’re good to go. No enforcement. Of course if the shop owner tries to stop the thief the owner will likely be arrested for assault. Isn't liberal America a great place to live!

You are exactly right. People must use their brains when they vote next time and not just use brain dead logic like “I hate the mean tweets”

You two need to put a cork into your political garbage. Take it somewhere else.

if you took the time to review petty theft laws in states you would find the limitations to run from a low of $500 to as high as $1250. Your inference that California is somehow legalizing petty theft and doing something almost no one else is wrong and wreaks of politically motivated BS. Texas, all your favorite right wing controlled states are right in there.

The ignorance you two display is unfortunate, but not uncommon. I hate ignorance and lazy liars who don’t bother with any attempt to learn the facts. Learn them.

Thank you! The city/county where the college idiot stole the AirPods is a moderately to highly conservative Republican area. At the same news source there are stories about thieves stealing multiple times this year. Including one thief that racked up 11 thievery/burglary cases since January this year: one case where he stole $8K worth of hair extensions, and includes one charge of assault on law enforcement and another where he assaulted his 70-something roommate. According to the foaming diatribe, Wichita County, Texas must be some liberal utopia for thieves.

The college student will be charged with a misdemeanor since the theft is under $750 (Texas law, not "liberal America" at work). In all likelihood, he will avoid not only jail time, but probably a record if he enters into a diversion program (hell, he may just need not to get in trouble again for a short period of time with no other requirements).