There has been an epidemic over the past few years of iPhone thieves using scooters and electric bikes to snatch the devices out of the hands of their owners while they are walking down the street.
This is the method of choice for thieves because it enables them to take an unlocked iPhone, which can be worth up to $800 more to them than a locked iPhone…
phone snatching on an industrial scale
A report last year said the use of stolen scooters and e-bikes to snatch phones on the streets had reached an “industrial scale”. A Met Police crackdown in London saw 230 people arrested and over a thousand phones recovered in just one week.
Part of the problem was that police initially stopped pursuing thieves due to security concerns, when the risk to the thieves was considered too high. In the UK, it was decided to reverse this situation and allow officers to use “tactical contact” to bring down their bikes.
Unlocked iPhones cost up to $800 more
A wired The report said unlocked phones attract very high premiums because they facilitate access to data and financial accounts. Although banking and other financial apps should require Face ID or a passcode to access, phishing attempts may be made to gain login.
“Phone thieves don’t just want the handset – they want access to bank accounts and personal information,” says Will Lynn, head of economic and cyber crime at London’s Metropolitan Police. Lin highlighted a case of four people who were caught handling over $5,000 stolen phones and spending money from financial accounts on the devices.
Dan Guido, CEO and co-founder of security firm Trail of Bits and strategic advisor to mobile security firm iVerify, says a stolen phone may only be worth $50 to $200 when locked. “But if you unlock it, it costs $500, or it costs $1,000.”
A law enforcement professional’s iPhone was stolen and he received a phishing message that mimicked Apple’s Find My page and asked for the phone’s passcode. When someone falls for this, it allows the buyer of a stolen iPhone to remove the activation lock and sell it as a working device.
Illicit trade is facilitated by sophisticated phishing software sold on a pay-per-use model.
A phishing kit called “Find My iPhone Off” can be used to access accounts; and scripts and AI voice calling software to run phishing operations (…)
A video obtained by researchers shows software called iRealm creating phishing links and pages that mimic Apple services. Other posts linked to iRealm mentioned features like “Find My iPhone Nullified”, advertised a “script” that mentioned Apple Pay, and said the software could provide a “seamless experience” for “accessing and unlocking Apple devices.”
Many of these services are offered through Telegram channels. After contacting the company they removed half a dozen groups advertising these services.
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