Stephen Silver
Reporter's iPhone targeted with Pegasus, a man caught outside Apple Store at 4:30 a.m., an iPad ripped from store employee's hands, and more in the Apple Crime Blotter.
The latest in an occasional AppleInsider series, looking at the latest in Apple-related crime.
56 boxes of AirPods stolen in Brooklyn
Whether or not it results in a crime, when people meet at night to sell Apple devices via Facebook Marketplace, the item in question is usually one or two iPhones. When that happened in mid-September in Brooklyn, the items being moved were 56 boxes of AirPods.
According to News 12, a seller met up with a buyer to discuss the AirPods, which were listed on Facebook Marketplace. Instead, three suspects approached with guns, taking the victim's AirPods, phone, and $2,600 in cash.
Police are looking for suspects. It's not clear how the seller came into possession of that many boxes of AirPods.
iPad ripped from the hands of Best Buy employee
At a Best Buy in the Chicago area in late October, a customer stole an iPad by ripping it from the hands of a store employee. Evanston Now reports the device was taken from the hands of a 22-year-old female employee.
Man arrested near Apple Store at 4:30 a.m.
Security guards in Ohio caught a man attempting to enter the Westlake Apple Store at 4:30 a.m. on Oct. 18, according to Patch. When security approached the man, he said he was trying to get into the store to "use the phone."
The police, per the report, believes the man was part of a crew that had been trying to break into several area businesses.
Apple Watch helps catch reputed serial burglars in Minnesota
A duo reportedly engaged in a months-long spree of burglaries in Ramsey County, Minnesota, in which they gained access to apartment complex garages and stole from cars. Per police, they were caught after an Apple Watch taken in one of the burglaries was traced back to them.
The St. Paul Pioneer Press writes the Apple Watch was tracked to a camper behind a residence, and a warrant confirmed the accused thieves' identities. The pair were arrested a few days later, but not before another theft in which they're accused of stealing a man's iPhone and credit cards.
The male was charged with "ten counts of first-degree burglary, ten counts of second-degree burglary, two counts of theft and one count each of illegally possessing a firearm and fraud," the newspaper said, while the woman was hit with "nine counts of first-degree burglary, nine counts of second-degree burglary, two counts of theft and one count of fraud."
Reporter's iPhone was targeted by Pegasus
Not long before the announcement that the U.S. government was banning NSO Group's Pegasus software and placing it on the Commerce Department's Entity List, there was news that the software was used against an American journalist.
CitizenLab reported that an iPhone belonging to New York Times reporter Ben Hubbard was targeted by Pegasus over a three year period ending in June 2021. This took place during a period when Hubbard was reporting on Saudi Arabia and writing a book about Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
Man accused of stealing former girlfriend's MacBook, using her Amazon account
A Tennessee man has been arrested on charges that he stole a MacBook from his then-girlfriend and used her Amazon account, which was tied to a credit card belonging to her parents, to charge items.
According to Scoop Nashville, the purchases, which were delivered to the man's address, were visible in the woman's Amazon account. The man was charged with felony theft.
Hospital patient threw iPad during vandalism spree
A hospital patient in Michigan who vandalized his room due to impatience about the arrival of a meal threw and broke a hospital-owned iPad, the Royal Oak Tribune reported. The newspaper said that the 35-year-old man threw the fit after "his breakfast wasn't served in a timely manner."
The man also threw miscellaneous medical supplies, broke furniture, and "tore out a sink faucet" before he was subdued by security. It's unclear if he will face criminal charges.
Woman attempts to track son's stolen iPhone
A mother in suburban Cleveland decided to track an iPhone belonging to her juvenile son after it was stolen from a party, tracking the iPhone XS it to an area shopping center. However, per Cleveland.com, the two cell phone stores in that shopping center did not report having the phone, nor did the place where the party took place.
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Israeli foreign minister distances government from blacklisted NSO Group
There is something sketchy about a 16-year-old trying to sell 56 boxes of AirPods on a Bensonhurst street corner at 9:30 PM on a Wednesday night. The dudes who showed up with guns probably figured that the seller was unlikely to report it to the police. It’s hard to imagine a legitimate explanation for why the teenager had the AirPods in the first place, and why it seemed like a good idea to meet up with strangers in a somewhat unsafe neighborhood at night with $2,600 in cash, when you’re the seller, not the buyer.
Ah, kids these days.
Report: 6 Palestinian rights activists hacked by NSO spyware
"Security researchers disclosed Monday that spyware from the notorious Israeli hacker-for-hire company NSO Group was detected on the cellphones of six Palestinian human rights activists ...
Israel’s Defense Ministry approves the export of spyware produced by NSO Group and other private Israeli companies that recruit from the country’s top cyber-capable military units. Critics say the process is opaque.
It’s not known precisely when or how the phones were violated, the security researchers said. But four of the six hacked iPhones exclusively used SIM cards issued by Israeli telecom companies with Israeli +972 area code numbers, said the Citizen Lab and Amnesty researchers. That led them to question claims by NSO Group that exported versions of Pegasus cannot be used to hack Israeli phone numbers. NSO Group has also said it doesn’t target U.S. numbers."