Six New York residents have been arrested and charged for their part in an organized scheme to purchase Apple products from Chicago-area Apple Stores using stolen identities and credit cards.
The Chicago Tribune:
Christopher Covelli, a spokesman for the sheriff’s office, said the suspects would fly into O’Hare International Airport, rent a car and go to Apple stores to attempt to make purchases.
The six New Yorkers, ranging in age from 18 to 41, would fly into Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport, rent a vehicle, and travel to nearby Apple Stores to attempt to make purchases using the stolen identities and cards.
The suspects – Nicole E. Cannon, 21; Gisselle Diaz, 41; Corbett Ortiz, 26; Quintin Ortiz, 18; Melinda Aquino, 21; and Frank Aulet, 20, – attempted to commit fraud at the Deer Park location last week in the Wednesday to Sunday timeframe. They were arrested and charged. Authorities say they recovered over $10,000 worth of stolen Apple products from the subjects.
All six suspects face a number of felony charges, including burglary, possession of a counterfeit credit card, use of a counterfeit credit card, unlawful use of a fraudulent ID to commit theft, identity theft and forgery.
Apple Stores have long been the target of similar schemes, due to the high-ticket items that are available at the store, whose popularity makes them easy to make a quick buck off of. June saw thieves posing as SoHo Apple Store employees steal over $16,000 worth of iPhones from the New York City location.
On February 16th, a trio of miscreants, including “a woman disguised as an Appleworker,” snagged eight iPhones from the Upper West Side Apple Store while one of them distracted actual store employees. March 22nd saw another gang of three stealing 59 iPhones worth around $44,000 using the same ploy. It isn’t clear at this time if the same threesome was responsible for both robberies.
