Gizmodo: thief

If You Steal Somebody's iPhone and Don't Know How to Use It, You'll Go to Jail

matt buchanan — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 16:35:15 EDT

Shoe designer Sayaka Fukuda was mugged by two men who made off with her purse and iPhone. After reporting it to police, she noticed a strange email in her outbox. Guess what happened next?

She knew she didn't send any email, so she opened the attachment, which was a self-portrait her attacker emailed to himself. She forwarded the picture to police, who quickly matched it to a mug shot of Dacquan Mathis.

Fukuda made the not so bright move of emailing Mathis directly, telling him the cops were onto him. He cheerfully replied to her, "I will kill you! I know where you live, I know where you work. I'll send people."

But we all know how this ends—the cops busted him, and he confessed to jacking the iPhone as well as another mugging involving an iPod.

Moral of the story: Whenever you steal a piece of technology, make sure you know how it works, or you'll get made fun of on a bunch of blogs. Oh yeah, and go to jail and stuff. [NY Post via Gothamist - Thanks Ace!]

Thief Cleans Out a Desk, But Leaves the Zune Behind

Adam Frucci — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 00:35:56 EST

How do you know your brand is in trouble? When people are embarrassed to even steal a Zune. Oh, Microsoft. I'm so sorry. [CollegeHumor]

Unlucky Thief Busted For The Third Time in Four Months For Stealing Police Sat Navs

Sean Fallon — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 18:50:00 EDT

In appears that 21 year old James Milsom is in the running for both the dumbest and unluckiest criminial in the UK after being busted for the third time in four months for stealing sat navs from undercover police cars. As you can see, the CCTV system in the vehicle did a pretty good job of capturing the subject—so he is off to another 14 weeks in the slammer. When he gets out, maybe he could team up with the criminals in the video after the break and form a kind of anti-Justice league for morons.

[Daily Mail via Neatorama]

If You Buy an iPhone Off Craigslist for Really Cheap in a Dark Alley in a Shady Neighborhood, You Will Get Mugged

matt buchanan — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 14:30:00 EDT

And now, a Giz PSA: The iPhone 3G might have dealt a pretty solid blow to the value of a vanilla iPhone, but when you see an offer on Craigslist for a case of 10 iPhones for $2,000 with a meetup in an isolated part of a shady neighborhood, it might not be legit!

Tired of yuppy scum and their fruitphones, a bunch of scammers posted bulk cases of iPhones at deep discounts on Craigslist, luring hip grandfathers and yupsters alike to "desolate locations in Flatbush, East Flatbush and Flatlands" in NY. Upon arrival, they were mugged at gunpoint by the gang of four, who stole thousands of dollars from as many as 12 ~~suckers~~ victims before getting busted June 4 by undercover cops. Remember kids, the only legit discounts come from Apple, real iPhones from real people cost real scratch (for now, anyway). [NY Post]

Stupidest Thief Ever Checks Reflection in CCTV Camera After Swiping Kid's Necklace

AddyDugdale — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 05:20:00 EDT

A mugger who stole jewelry from a teenager on a tram has dropped himself right in it, after he clocked himself in the on-board security cameras. The victim, a 16-year-old boy, was traveling with two friends on a tram in Bromley, a South London suburb, when he was approached by another kid who, after admiring the necklace and bracelet, snatched them. Rather than fleeing immediately, the dumbass tea-leaf sauntered up to the CCTV camera on board the tram, and struck a pose with the stolen items. The mugger, who claimed he was carrying a knife when the victim asked for his gear back, was described by a British Transport policeman, as "not the brightest spark. He was there for a long time and either didn't care or wasn't aware he was being filmed." [Daily Mail]

Xbox 360 Thief Calls Tech Support, Gets Caught

Jason Chen — Thu, 08 Feb 2007 18:50:15 EST

What's the first thing you would do if you stole an Xbox 360 but forgot to grab the power supply? If you answered "call Microsoft tech support and give them my full contact information", you're probably in a jail in Wellington, New Zealand right now. – Jason Chen

Microsoft privacy defence delays police [Stuff via Kotaku]

How To: Steal a Laptop

Brian Lam — Mon, 07 Aug 2006 12:03:12 EDT

Here's a video of a lucky thief lifting a laptop from a computer store. We say lucky because the guy looks super conspicuous, wearing an oversized coat while store workers rock short sleeve t-shirts. He walks around like a spaz, pacing and fidgeting. And if that weren't enough to give the whole caper away, all of a sudden, The Pink Panther soundtrack starts playing in the store. Sheesh, guys, if you're going to steal, read The Art of Shoplifting first, mmm-kay?– Brian Lam

Computer Shoplifter [ Google Video ]
How to Shoplift [ Some Kid's Website ]

How Not To Steal A Sidekick: The Denouement

Jason Chen — Wed, 21 Jun 2006 01:38:29 EDT

After two weeks of enduring endless calls, emails, radio interviews, denials from the thieves, runaround from the police, and numerous late nights, the Sidekick guy finally got a resolution. Tonight, the NYPD picked up Sasha, the girl that either paid for the Sidekick from a cabbie, on the subway, or got it from her mother—their story isn't quite straight yet.

In any case, it's great to see a guy who did the right thing for a friend get the nice conclusion that he deserves, especially since he gave up a week's pay to take care of all this stuff. It wasn't about the money, it was about taking responsibility for what you do. Let's hope this encourages more people to do the right thing in the future.

It's also a coincidence that the end comes on the day the Sidekick 3 is released. Maybe T-Mobile will give him and his friend two free ones?

NY Times Article

How NOT to steal a Sidekick [Evanwashere]

Steal A Sidekick And Face The Wrath Of The Internet

Jason Chen — Tue, 06 Jun 2006 21:20:34 EDT

Our mothers stressed two things: don't steal and wash your hands after using the bathroom. Although we're sometimes lax about the second one—we're busy bloggers here!—the first is definitely a rule to live by. Turns out these people's mothers didn't do their jobs so well.

Apparently, a friend of Evan's left her Sidekick II in a car, bought a new one to replace it and found out someone had not only found her sidekick but took pictures of themselves with it. Even better, they signed onto their AIM accounts and left their login names. Evan decided to contact the thief and was called a "white bitch" and hit with "i got ball this is my adress [redacted] come n do it iam give u the sidekick so I can hit you wit it". Classy.

So he decided to post the address, pictures, screen name and Myspace profile link of the thieves online to try to shame them into submission. The morals of the story? Don't take other people's stuff, give up when you're caught, and 14 year old girls shouldn't take slutty pictures of themselves and post it to Myspace. – Jason Chen

Stolen Sidekick