Apple Crime Log: AirTags, After-Hours Heists, and a $16M Fake iPhone Scam
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It’s time again to dive into online police and news reports to discover another batch of Apple-related crime stories. In this edition, AirTags continue to be used for both good and bad, a woman is robbed of her MacBook after an Apple Store visit, and two Chinese nationals involved in a nine-year-long fake iPhone scheme face the music.
AirTags for Good: Cops Nab Vehicle Prowler
In late July, police in Olympia, Washington, announced the arrest of a man who broke a car window and stole items from the car, reports The Olympian.
The Olympia Police Department said in a social media post that officers arrested a man in connection to a vehicle prowl at Watershed Park, which has seen multiple car break-ins this year, prompting officials to increase patrols of the parking area. Officers arrested the man with help from the Lakewood Police Department.
The unidentified 47-year-old man was arrested at 12:30 a.m. on July 29. A witness to the vehicle prowl had car video of the suspect looking into the victim’s vehicle before shattering the window. The witness was also able to write down the suspect’s license plate number before the suspect fled the scene.
An Apple AirTag was inside some of the stolen items, allowing the victim to track the items to a house in Lakewood. Lakewood police held the suspect while the stolen items were recovered, then turned him over to Olympia police.
The suspect, who has multiple vehicle prowl convictions, admitted to the crime. Now investigators are trying to determine if he is also involved in other recent vehicle prowls in the area.
The man was arrested on suspicion of second-degree vehicle prowl and second-degree theft. The Olympian notes that 27 total break-ins have taken place this year, with 12 car prowls occurring in the area in July alone.
AirTags for Bad: Stalking and Paintball Gunning
A 37-year-old Louisville, Kentucky, man was arrested in early August on charges that he used an AirTag to stalk his ex-girlfriend, despite a protective order she had obtained. He is also accused of shooting at her windshield with a paintball gun.
According to court documents, Daren Moore, 37, was subject to a protective order prohibiting him from going within 500 feet of his ex-girlfriend or contacting her through a third party. The man violated the protective order “several times” over a four-day period in July, reports WLKY.
The woman who was being stalked was involved in a car accident, and she informed police that an unidentified AirTag had been detected near her car. Officers searched the car and found the AirTag hidden underneath it.
Moore later texted the woman’s new boyfriend asking about her location, called the woman from different phone numbers, and even took a shot at her car with a paintball gun.
On July 23, police said Moore sent the boyfriend a series of messages including, “Time to roll out boy,” followed by, “Don’t listen do ya.” After the boyfriend left the woman’s home, police say Moore sent him another message saying, “Good boy.”
The woman told police that the messages made her feel like she was being watched in the one place she should feel safe, her own home.
Moore was arrested on a warrant and charged with stalking, intentional unlawful use of a tracking device, and wanton endangerment.
Chinese Duo Sentenced for ‘Fake iPhones’ Scheme
The last two of the six Chinese nationals involved in a nine-year-long scheme to return counterfeit Apple products from China to Apple Stores throughout California have been sentenced to prison. The scheme operated from December 2015 to March 2024.
The Orange County Register reports that the group’s ringleader, Wenhui Huang, was sentenced to six years and six months in federal prison. His second-in-command, Yang Song, received a bit less than five years. Both men had pled guilty in 2025.
The duo will also be required to pay $16.2 million and $16.9 million, respectively, in restitution.
The scheme involved counterfeit iPhones and iPads being imported from China, then exchanged at Apple stores across the Southland for genuine devices, causing Apple at least $16.2 million in losses, according to the US Attorney’s Office.
Court papers say the real identification numbers and serial numbers on the counterfeit devices were designed to impersonate genuine Apple devices owned by customers throughout the United States. That allowed the bad actors to fool Apple into replacing the counterfeit devices with real ones under Apple’s warranty programs.
Woman Robbed Following Apple Store Visit
A Houston woman purchased a MacBook and other items from a Houston-area Apple Store and was robbed soon after in the mall parking lot.
KTRK reports the incident took place at the Memorial City Mall in late August. The 51-year-old woman had left the Apple Store and was placing her items in her vehicle when a thief ran up, took a bag, and escaped in a vehicle. Officials said that the woman fought for the bag, resulting in the woman’s arm being bruised before the suspect escaped with the bag.
Surveillance video showed the suspect getting into a GMC Acadia, and then Flock cameras caught the vehicle at a cell phone repair store. A subsequent traffic stop led to the arrest of two suspects.
Police arrested both suspects, who were identified as 21-year-old Noah Kamara and 22-year-old David Williams. The stolen items were recovered and returned to the victim.
