“Apple products are some of the most expensive and desirable in tech so it makes sense that the company’s gift cards are proving an attractive currency for criminals,” Martyn Williams reports for IDG News Service.
“On Thursday, the Manhattan District Attorney’s office said it has indicted five people for using personal information stolen from around 200 people to fund the purchase of hundreds of thousands of dollars in Apple gift cards, which in turn were used to buy Apple products,” Williams reports. “The DA’s office alleges that Annie Vuong, a 27-year-old from the Bronx, stole the names, address, birth dates and social security numbers of patients at the Manhattan dental office where she worked.”
“That data was passed to Devin Bazile, a 30-year-old former Apple sales associate from the Bronx, who used it to apply for Apple ‘instant credit,’ the lawsuit alleges,” Williams reports. “The approval comes in the form of a barcode, which Bazile and associates are alleged to have shared with Apple Store employees recruited to help in the scheme. The employees worked at Apple Stores in Manhattan, White Plains and New Jersey and used the barcodes to purchase Apple gift cards.”
Read more in the full article here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Dan K.” for the heads up.]
How do these people sleep at night?
money makes people sleep very well. its not until they’re caught, if they do, when they no longer can sleep . chick at dentist office probably got a nice fat wad of cash for handing over a list with 200 names on it.
Actually, she probably didn’t get that much. The people in charge of the scam keep most of the money. The mules keep most of the risk and get relatively little money.
If you are going to risk your job and your freedom, it is pretty stupid to sell yourself short.
I don’t know about before, but from now on, not too well on very thin mattresses on metal slabs.
Apparently, they turn the lights off at night in jail. It helps a lot.
And they thought they can get away with it.
Inside thefts are the worst kind, but it happens all the time. At the top, its even worse, because the KNOW they can get away with it.
if you read the newspaper closely, you’ll always see little stories about some office lady that manages the companies money get busted stealing from it. these people always think no one is watching cause they are the ones handling the bank accounts and they work alone in their office.
there is a reason why retail stores have their inventories calculated by an outside company at least once a year. helps them see if any insider theft is going on, which is just as bad if not worse than outsiders common.
many years ago a close friend of mine worked at a CVS pharmacy. Most of the employees of this one store all agreed to steal from the place and look out for each other. overnight when it looked like they were taking out the days trash they were actually unloading tons of merchandise.
I knew another person who worked at high end home store store. she would always double charge a legit customer’s credit card, and say it was a mistake. but she would keep the receipt from the 2nd charge and give it to a friend who would then walk out of the store with merchandise and the 2nd receipt in case she got stopped.
everyone is crooked little kids to old ladies. if you don’t believe me check out some candy shops like see’s candies. they sometime hire security guards cause women love to shove boxes of candy in their purses and walk out
“GENIUSES!”
As unacceptable as it sounds, 5 people stealing $700,000 is a much smaller theft from shareholders than Cook blowing >$6,000,000,000 on an office, $3,000,000,000 on Beats and $74,000,000 on a single executive hire, not to mention several million lining his own pockets.
Let’s compare those numbers again:
__________$700,000 – employee theft
________$74,000,000 – Ahrendts
______$3.000,000,000 – Beats
______$6,000,000,000 – donut office
________________$1 – Jobs’ base salary
Perhaps readers should realize who’s ripping who off. Cook has blown more money on insane overcompensation, silly acquisitions, and extravagant offices than anyone could possibly steal. Such poor financial judgment by a leader is why AAPL continues to be undervalued in the marketplace.
During the period Cook has been in office, Apple (as a company) has generated more profits every year than they have when Jobs was in the same role. Apple stock is at all-time high, more than three years after Jobs’s death (and five years after he quit as CEO).
Let us not forget, the ‘donut office’ was Jobs’s project, for which he made the decision (and started the work). Not one person on the board argued against it; not while Jobs was alive, not after he died.
But you knew all that… For some people it is more fun to troll and irk others than to actually meaningfully participate in discussion.
My guess: We have a generic, anonymous coward troll hanging out here today, making up different nicks to impress us. We haven’t seen troll excrement like this at MDN in quite awhile. And very clichéd excrement, like the troll is some teeny kid.
Trolls: No imagination.
Mike. Please. Look at some of those companies that you don’t hate and see much worse.
Just saying!
Too bad they got caught. Sounds like karma coming back on apple for making software that just works, then just stops working less than a year later, then never fixing it, then giving the higher ups who don’t know shXt about shXt a big fat paycheck while the customer gets screwed over. I hope that kind of theft is going on internally in other ways at apple, they deserve it. Apple is the criminal.
I think you are confusing Apple with Android (or Google).
HAHAHAHA! ‘Apple is the criminal’.
So WHO exactly do you cheer for? Or perhaps we should ask: Who pays you to troll here?
If you are for realz, try being SPECIFIC about what you’re attempting to criticize. Pulling generic ‘Apple Sucks’ quality troll moves is only going to get you further laughs around here! We’ve heard it ALL before.
😆 😆 😆
WHAT? Apple using unsecure cards! Say it ain’t so? Apple pay the gift cards already. Oh wait, then people that don’t have a 6 wouldn’t be able to use them. Can’t have that now, can we Tim?