Police have arrested over 100 people who stole credit card information, mainly so they could get their hands on Apple’s insanely great products and resell them to meet demand.
“This is primarily an Apple case,” NYPD deputy inspector Gregory Antonsen told the International Business Times.
“Apple is a big ticket item and a very easy sell,” he added. While the credit crooks also bought items at stores like Louis Vuitton, thieves spent the most time and money buying Apple.
The ID theft ring stretched from Europe to the Middle East and China; police think victims number in the thousands. The Queens, New York branch of the operation included people with day jobs in the service industry such as bank tellers and restaurant employees. Dubbed “Operation Swiper” by authorities, the group had been in operation since 2010 and is thought to have stolen $13 million.
The folks who worked in retail and banking were skimming credit card numbers which then ended up with “criminal shoppers” who headed to high-end stores like Apple, Macy’s and Bloomingdale’s. The booty was then sold overseas.
This isn’t the first time an identity theft ring has targeted Apple products. In February 2011, police busted a smaller Apple-swiping ring of 27 people who stole $1 million in Apple goods.
Source: International Business Times
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