Thief Dressed as Apple Employee Steals 19 iPhones

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In the latest of several similar attacks targeting New York’s Apple Stores, a thief has brazenly walked into an Apple Store and later out of it with 19 iPhones, reports DNAinfo. As with other recent instances, the thief worked with a small team, but crucially, dressed as an Apple employee wearing a replica store blue-colored T-shirt. Using this method, the thief was able to enter a back-of-store iPhone repair workroom at around 5:30PM on June 1, swipe the iPhones from a drawer, and pass them off to an accomplice, who managed to hide them under his shirt before the pair exited the store together.

The ruse has been able to work quite effectively, as it is not uncommon for new employees not previously seen by repair shop staff to walk in and out of the area. However, it does, apparently, require some level of inside knowledge to understand the layout of the stores. Police are investigating the incident, with the total value of the single theft worth approximately $16,130.

In another incident earlier this year, thieves targeted the Upper West store on two separate occasions over a two-month period, reported the New York Post. On both those occasions, a woman wearing a replica Apple Store employee T-shirt managed to steal eight iPhones, while two accomplices worked in tandem, with one as a lookout and the other causing a distraction. The second occasion was more fruitful, yielding another 59 iPhones. The total haul was estimated at $49,300.

As part of a policy instituted by Apple Senior VP of Retail and Online Stores, Angela Ahrendts, Apple employees must all wear the same color shirt with official Apple logo, although each staff member can choose whether they wear a short sleeve top, long sleeve top, crew neck shirt, or polo shirt. Thieves have cottoned on to the fact that they can blend into an Apple Store without arousing immediate suspicion. Apple has not made any public comment on the matter, but it could resolve the problem by requiring an employee badge and access card to employee-only areas.