Bad Guys Hijack Pickup Orders at Apple Stores, Leaving Customers Empty-Handed
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Apple customers buying MacBooks through the Apple online store for pickup at local Apple retail stores are receiving a nasty surprise. Many buyers have reported that after arriving at the Apple store, they found that bad guys had impersonated them, using fake IDs and QR Codes, and walked out with their laptops before the rightful buyer could show up at the store.
The crime, which has been reported to several media outlets in the Southern California area, occurs when customers purchase Apple laptops through the Apple online store. Once they arrive at the Apple Store to pick up the computer, they find that someone else has already claimed and taken it.
Los Angeles resident Darragh Marmorstein told the Orange County Register that she ordered a MacBook Pro online and, on November 30, received a notification that the high-priced laptop was ready for pickup. However, when she called the store to confirm before heading out to the store, she was told that her order had already been picked up! The publication says this happened at the Americana at Brand in Glendale.
Marmorstein said Apple would not reimburse her for the laptop and wouldn’t confirm whether the person who picked up her order had shown an ID.
Another victim of the scam, Yorba Linda resident Paul Giles, told KNBC-TV in Los Angeles 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 also happened at the Americana at Brand Apple Store.
Giles says the manager at Apple told him, ‘Oh, I’m sorry this happened. Somebody apparently impersonated you and picked it up.’”
Spokespersons for Apple and the Glendale Police Department didn’t respond to a request for comment.
A third victim, Rick Markowitz, also told KNBC-TV that he had ordered a MacBook for in-store pickup in Sherman Oaks but that his order had been picked up by someone with a fake ID identifying the crook as Markowitz.
While Markowitz filed a police report, he hasn’t heard any word from investigators. He said Apple had told him someone had used his QR code to pick up his laptop.
“That’s crazy,” said Markowitz. I don’t have any bank account draining. I got no suspicious emails or anything like that,” he added.
MacBooks, iPhones, iPads, and other Apple devices are popular targets for thieves looking to make an easy score. While many Apple customers do as the victims in this story and have their orders designated for in-store pickup, many Apple buyers will have their purchases delivered via next-day or two-day delivery via a carrier like UPS or FedEx. This is more convenient for many customers and only delays their buyer’s gratification by a day or two.
However, porch pirates have been known to steal the Apple devices off the victims’ porches if they don’t immediately bring the package inside.
In October, police in Spring Hill, Tenessee, investigated a series of porch thefts of iPhone 16 deliveries. Police eventually arrested two participants in what was said to be a nationwide plot involving a crime syndicate using delivery information to steal the expensive iPhones off of customers’ porches within minutes after their delivery by FedEx.
The criminals had inside information about the deliveries and knew precisely where and when the products would be delivered.
FedEx cooperated with the Spring Hill PD, providing delivery schedules to allow detectives to arrest the thieves while they were still working the neighborhoods, leading to the arrest of the two individuals.
