MacBook Theft Scheme Busted; Two in Custody, One on the Run
Glendale Americana At Brand Apple Store
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In December 2024, we shared a report about a less than pleasant surprise for Apple customers who had bought MacBooks through the Apple online store for pickup at their local Apple retail store: a good number of buyers reported that after placing their orders online and being notified that their order was ready for pickup, they arrived at the Apple store only to find that bad actors had impersonated them — using fake IDs and QR Codes — and had walked out with their laptops before they, the rightful buyer, could show up at the store.
For example, Los Angeles resident Darragh Marmorstein ordered a MacBook Pro online and, on November 30, received a notification that the expensive laptop was ready for her to pick up. However, when she called the store to confirm before heading out to the store, she was informed that her order had already been picked up! This incident occurred at the Americana at Brand Apple Store in Glendale.
Marmorstein said Apple would not reimburse her for the laptop and wouldn’t even confirm whether the scofflaw who had picked up her order had shown an ID.
Another victim, Yorba Linda resident Paul Giles, said that someone posing as him picked up his order for a 16-inch MacBook Pro that he had intended to give as a gift to his daughter. This again was at the Americana at Brand Apple Store.
“From the time I got the initial email from Apple saying it’s ready to pick up and the time that they actually went to the store to pick it up,” Giles said.
Giles says the theft was pulled off in around four hours.
“It was someone who impersonated me. Showed the ID, showed the QR code that was through the email system, and with that, ‘Paul Giles’ got the laptop,” Giles said.
Giles said the manager at Apple told him, ‘Oh, I’m sorry this happened. Somebody apparently impersonated you and picked it up.’”
Now, KNBC-TV in Los Angeles reports that two men have been arrested and charged with fraud in connection with eight cases of laptop theft, including MacBooks, which involved the use of fake identification and QR codes.
The duo impersonated genuine customers who ordered laptops for pickup at Apple stores and other businesses, using bogus IDs and QR codes to pull off the thefts, according to the Glendale Police Department.
Giles said a detective had told him that thieves buy information on the dark web, and are then told where to pick up the purloined goods.
“It’s really easy to get this information,” said Jim Stickley, a cybersecurity expert. “You can jump on the dark web. There’s sites that are literally dedicated to selling just these types of information.”
Stickley said that in many cases, victims don’t know that their emails have been compromised.
“Everything’s in the cloud now, so they’ll access your email,” he said. “So once they gain access, they’ll just put a rule in that basically forwards all of your emails. So now you get a copy and they get a copy and you’d have no idea.”
Police have not released the names of the bad actors who were apprehended in connection with the scheme. Police said they are in search of a third accomplice, although they did not provide a description of the third stooge.
