Between 2015 and 2017, Tout-Puissant, Ali Syed, and an unnamed accomplice stole Apple Gift Cards from various Apple Stores to buy products worth $1.5 million. AppleInsider reports that the trio was able to steal Apple Store employees’ sales devices to send themselves legitimate gift cards.
Starting from $25 to a user-preferred amount, Apple Gift Cards can be bought to purchase all Apple products, accessories, apps, games, music, iCloud, and much more. Unfortunately, gift cards have been used by scammers to steal from innocent victims. But in this case, the victim is Apple.
For two years, thieves were able to steal Apple gift cards from under Apple Store employees noses
As per the report, Tout-Puissant was able to steal stole several “Isaac” handheld devices from Apple Store employees which are used at the stores for quick payments and avoid long queues at checkouts. Then he sat outside the Apple Store to stay connected to the store’s WiFi and sent multiple Apple Gift Cards worth thousands of dollars to his accomplice, Ali Syed.
Ali redeemed the stolen gift cards at local Apple Stores in another state. And over a two-year crime spree, the thieves purchased products worth $1.5 million, including $50,000 worth of gift cards taken from Apple Southlake Town Square store in Texas only. However, it is not known how Tout-Puissant was able to steal devices from Apple Store employees for so long.
Court filings do not describe how Tout-Puissant was so consistently able to steal the Apple Store devices, but he and Ali were charged in 2019.
Ali, who is reportedly ill, agreed to aid prosecutors in their case against Tout-Puissant. The latter insisted on his innocence until May 2021, when he pleaded guilty to the Apple Southlake thefts.
Thieves are getting smart, not only to steal from customers but also from companies. Brazilian police caught a group of thieves who were using SIM cards to unlock stolen iPhones and emptying the victims’ bank accounts.
