Man accused of stealing over 9,000 iPod shuffles
updated 11:30 am EDT, Fri March 20, 2009
Man steals 9,000 Shuffles
A Michigan repairman has been charged with fraud and money laundering perpetrated against Apple, writes the San Francisco Chronicle. Nicholas Woodhams is said to have fraudulently stolen over 9,000 iPod shuffles, of which "thousands" were then sold for $49 apiece. Filings at a federal court in Grand Rapids suggest that Woodhams took advantage of Apple's website, which lets users ask for a replacement Shuffle if they have a valid serial number under warranty.
Prosecutors allege that by determining how to successfully guess serial numbers, Woodhams was able to request Shuffles en masse. Replacements typically require sending a defective player back, but Woodhams is said to have dodged the normal penalty charge by using credit cards that would reject the transaction. It is not known which model(s) of the Shuffle the man is accused of stealing.
Beautiful
03/20, 12:24pm (1 reply) reply
and amazing.
starwarrior
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Joined: Mar 2006
wow
03/20, 01:00pm reply
Smart enough to get a free iPod.
Too stupid to control himself, thereby making it worthwhile for Apple and the police to nail his a**. Enjoy your time in jail.
malax
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Joined: Aug 2006
Just imagine..
03/20, 01:03pm reply
Just imagine if this cunning intellect had been put to something worthwhile. I personally know a few people who spend more time thinking of ways to get out of doing something than just doing it and getting it over with.
As for Apple's liberal warranty process we see the same thing at other retail outlets. It's better to just accept some fraud and retain goodwill from honest customers by making returns easy. However, letting this scam go on to the tune of thousands of iPods is just stupid.
lkrupp
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Joined: May 2001
so...
03/20, 01:45pm reply
Someone never noticed in their system "Wow, Fred Johnson sure has been having trouble lately with his iPods..."
Or have a policy in place to stop dealing with addresses of people who've used fraudulent credit cards. Or had their transactions stopped?
testudo
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Joined: Aug 2001
Re: Just imagine
03/20, 01:46pm reply
Just imagine if this cunning intellect had been put to something worthwhile. I personally know a few people who spend more time thinking of ways to get out of doing something than just doing it and getting it over with.
Hey, at least he did do something, rather than just come up with an idea of how to bilk thousands from a company.
testudo
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Joined: Aug 2001
they finally...
03/20, 01:58pm (1 reply) reply
...busted testudo.
rtbarry
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Joined: Aug 2001
Re: they finally
03/20, 06:19pm reply
Hey, thanks rtbarry! Most people here wouldn't admit I'd have the intelligence to pull off this type of fraud!
testudo
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Joined: Aug 2001
my smart a$$ contribution
03/22, 06:40pm reply
Hey, the sticker said "Don't steal music." It never said anything about the music PLAYER...
At least he'll have lots of music to listen to in his jail cell.
bredlo
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Joined: Nov 1999