Apple is again in the midst of a controversy as iPhones worth $19 million were stolen because of an identity theft scam. The scam was carried out by a New York-based gang which was apprehended after seven years. The gang used fake IDs and debit cards to buy iPhones. The gang members used to visit mobile stores and acted as real account holders to buy expensive Apple phones.
The fraudsters used to make a small down payment using cloned debit or credit cards initially to buy the smartphone. They then used another card to make rest of the payments. According to the report that has been given by the police, they travelled throughout the US to get the phones. Many people were involved at different levels to run this scam, one of the active members of the gang revealed.
The arrested gang member also told the police that he was paid $100 per phone to get them from stores. The case has once again highlighted identity thefts and phishing scams. Most identity thefts begin by using online platforms. The easiest way for fraudsters is to obtain the email id and password of a customer. They then generally reset passwords and change the customers mobile number to make sure that the customer is not alerted immediately. The arrested gang members have not guilty. They are currently on bail after signing bonds worth $100,000, reports said. The New York police is still working on the details provided by the arrested scammers to dismantle the whole nexus.
