As thousands queued up, hard-earned cash in hand, to buy a new iPhone 5 last Friday, several groups of enterprising thieves around the world had other ideas. Stores in London, Japan and Tennessee were hit, with hundreds of phones stolen overall.
The BBC reported on a theft that took place at the O2 store in Wimbledon, London, last Friday. Before customers were allowed in to the store to take out a new contract or buy the phone, 252 phones were pinched. Even if every model was a 16GB one, the total value of the heist would come to a staggering £133,000. Police are already looking to speak to the shop assistant who was working at the O2 shop that day, who surely wouldn’t want that many iPhone 5s going missing from his sight.
Way across the world in Japan, police have confirmed that a total of 191 iPhones were stolen from three separate stores in Osaka. Again, the total value reaches over £100,000, which is clearly going to have a major effect on the stores targeted. Network stores were hit, with two KDDI stores falling victim with 75 iPhones taken between them, and a Softbank store in Osaka City losing 116 handsets.
Finally, thieves made off with over $100,000 worth of Apple gear from a Best Buy store in Middle Tennessee last week. The delivery bay of the door was rammed by the non-paying Apple fans, with the intention of getting their hands on hundreds of iPhone 5s before anyone else. They didn’t get any of the latest smartphone however, but did make off with plenty of iPads and older iPhone models.
With the iPhone 5 now out and in thousands of stores around the world, we’re sure it won’t be long before the next attempt to hi-jack some Apple tech pops up in the news.
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