Apple Crime Log: Rolex Heists, AirTag Stalking, and a Very Forgetful Car Thief
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It’s time to once again delve into the Apple Crime Log, where we cover the latest Apple-related crimes. This time around, Rolex thieves transfer money with a stolen iPhone, a dropped iPhone leads to a robber’s arrest, a man uses a stolen credit card to score some Apple gear, and more!
Female Crooks Use Stolen iPhone to Steal Funds From Victim
In a crime that took place in October but was only now reported, police in Austin are in search of two women who allegedly stole a man’s Rolex and iPhone, later using the stolen handset to transfer thousands of dollars of his money from the victim’s phone apps to themselves.
Austin news station KVUE reports the incident took place in downtown Austin. Police are still searching for the dynamic duo and are asking the public for information. Police have released images of the two women.
“In addition to the theft of both items with an estimated total of close-to nine thousand dollars, the suspects also transferred thousands of dollars of his money from his phone apps,” the Austin police said.
Dropped iPhone in Scuffle Leads to Car Thief’s Arrest
Joliet, Illinois police have arrested a man who they say attempted to steal a Mercedes-Benz from a gas station. The owner spotted the thief in the car — which had been left running — trying to escape with the car in reverse, at which point the owner grabbed the thief, pulling him out of the car.
During the struggle, the thief stole the victim’s wallet and ran off. However, the crook unbelievably came back a few moments later, asking for the return of the iPhone he’d dropped in the car. Police soon arrived on the scene and arrested the thief.
News service Patch reports the 21-year-old suspect, Eliyjah Belk, has been charged with attempted motor vehicle theft, theft, and criminal trespass to a vehicle.
Man Uses Stolen Credit Card to Buy $5K of Merchandise at Apple Store
Police in San Luis Obispo, California, are in search of a man who allegedly used a stolen credit card to purchase $5,000 of products from a local Apple Store. The Tribune reports that while the theft took place in late October, the San Luis Obispo Police Department did not post about it on Facebook until mid-December.
Police did not specify which items were taken in the theft, but did say that the bad actor then attempted an additional purchase at Lululemon. The suspect was wearing a black baseball cap, brown sweatpants and a brown hoodie sweatshirt along with black sneakers. If you can help identify the scofflaw, please call Officer McLean at 805-594-8066 or Crime Stoppers at 805-549-7867.
Government Use of Cellebrite Mentioned in Epstein Files Release
The Department of Justice has begun releasing the Jeffrey Epstein investigative files, and among the information is an email from a prosecutor indicating that the government successfully used the smartphone-cracking software Cellebrite to access the iPhone 7 of former Trump adviser Steve Bannon.
Journalist Jacob Shamsia discovered an email in the files that shows one prosecutor informing another (both prosecutors’ names were redacted) in 2021 that Cellebrite had been used to access Bannon’s iPhone 7 — a relatively old model that’s still vulnerable to many forensic tools — as part of an investigation in the We Build the Wall fraud case.
The message revealed that the Cellebrite search had uncovered a photo of Trump with Ghislaine Maxwell on Bannon’s phone. Meanwhile, another agent’s message said that there were “a number of text messages” between Bannon and Epstein on Bannon’s phone.
Two Brothers Arrested in Theft Ring That Used AirTags
A pair of Colombian national brothers were arrested earlier this month for their multistate theft operation that involved using AirTags attached to cars to follow their victims home and steal from them there. According to local station News 4 Jax, the two brothers (Juan Sebastian Moyano, 20, and his brother, Juan Camilo Moyano, 18), targeted Asian business owners. The pair face burglary charges in Flagler County.
“They targeted people of Asian descent,” said Flagler County Sheriff Rick Staly. “For whatever reason, some Asians don’t trust the banking institutions, so they are known to keep cash, jewelry, and those kinds of things,” Staly added. “In some Asian communities, there’s a mistrust of the banking community, so they potentially keep a lot of cash at home.”
Investigators say the brothers used Apple AirTag trackers to follow their victims home.
“Once they get the life pattern,” added Staly, “then they know when the person is not going to be home or not be at the business, and then they will burglarize their home or business.”
The brothers are now facing deportation from the US.
