Apple Crime Log: Quebec iPhone Fraud, UK Heist, and iCloud Evidence
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It’s that time again. Let’s take a look at the Apple Crime Log, where we report the latest Apple-related crimes. In this edition: Bell joins with Quebec Police to take down a massive cellphone fraud ring, a man is charged with stealing nearly $40,000 worth of iPhones from a UK Apple Store, a gift card scammer is caught mimicking Apple Pay, and a real estate developer accused of sexual assault says prosecutors withheld evidence stored in iCloud.
Bell and Quebec Police Take Down Fraudsters
Police in Quebec busted a group suspected of running a cellphone fraud and stolen-electronics scheme, reports iPhone in Canada. Canadian cellular provider Bell, which cooperated with police to take down the fraudsters, was identified as one of the companies affected.
Quebec’s provincial police force, the Sûreté du Québec, revealed last Thursday that a 40-officer-strong raid led by the force’s major crimes division, working with Bell and the Laval police service, had searched three homes and one business. Police believe the business in question handled smartphones obtained fraudulently.
The investigation was spurred by the arrest earlier this year of Daniel Sabir, who had been charged with extortion. The probe has already resulted in the seizure of over $1 million worth of boats and vehicles allegedly stolen or fraudulently acquired.
The suspects are believed to have recruited people to open new wireless accounts and secure financed phones. The phones were then sent overseas. Multiple cellular carriers were hit by the fraudsters. The scheme cost Bell more than half a million dollars. Unfortunately for the people used by the fraudsters, they were then faced with paying for the smartphones or having their credit rating damaged.
The fraud comes in the wake of the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) forcing Bell to stop selling locked smartphones. Canadian carriers have been prohibited from SIM locking phones since 2017; however, Bell began employing a temporary 60-day phone-locking policy earlier this year to combat exactly the type of fraud uncovered in the Laval case.
The Sûreté du Québec warned the public to be wary of offers and schemes promising quick cash, as such scams often lead to serious financial consequences for victims.
Man Charged With Theft of iPhones from UK Apple Stores
A 20-year-old man has been arrested for allegedly stealing nearly $40,000 USD worth of iPhones from the Apple Store at Lakeside shopping centre in Essex.
The man, who was hit with additional charges of attempting to rob a different Apple Store in Brent Cross, in London, is said to have targeted the new iPhone 17 models. He was also charged with two counts of possession of an offensive weapon in a public place.
Man’s Gift Card Scam ‘Mimicked Apple Pay’
Pennsylvania authorities have arrested a New York man for what police describe as “a multi-county credit-card fraud operation” targeting Wegmans and Home Depot locations.
Media PA Now reports detectives first began investigating when Wegmans reported that groups of “Chinese actors” were spotted buying $125 gift cards at its stores around the Philadelphia suburbs, using stolen credit card data.
Investigators linked the gift card purchases to both Wegmans and Home Depot, noting the crime ring made the purchases through “a digital mobile-wallet system that mimicked Apple Pay and used one-time tokenized numbers to disguise the underlying card information.”
A suspect charged in the case, 40-year-old Zhenying Wu of New York City, was stopped and searched after leaving a Home Depot and found with multiple gift cards from merchants, including Apple and Macy’s, along with receipts from Dick’s Sporting Goods connected to similar activity. Wu faces multiple felony charges, including forgery, identity theft, access-device fraud, criminal use of a communication facility, and corrupt organization offenses.
Police believe at least 20 other suspects are involved in the scheme and are working on identifying additional accomplices.
Sexual Battery Suspect Claims Prosecutors Withheld iCloud Evidence
Los Angeles Magazine reports a luxury real estate mogul who is facing charges of sexual assault claims prosecutors concealed digital evidence in the case.
Attorneys for Oren Alexander have accused Miami-Dade prosecutors of having “obtained the alleged victim’s full iCloud data under a search warrant nearly a year ago but disclosed only selective portions to the defense.”
The footage, say the man’s attorneys, shows the accuser “dancing, smiling and appearing carefree” not long after the alleged assault took place.
Alexander and his two brothers are also facing a separate federal indictment alleging sex trafficking offenses in New York.
