The great Belgian iPhone robbery
Burglars in Antwerp make off with $3 million worth of smartphones
Over the weekend, someone used a fire ladder to climb to the roof of a huge warehouse in Willebroek, a Dutch-speaking municipality in the Belgian province of Antwerp, cut a hole in the roof, and made off with 3,000 to 4,000 brand new Apple (AAPL) iPhones, according to reports in the Belgian press.
The crime, believed to be the largest iPhone heist to date, was discovered Monday morning and had the earmarks of an inside job. The hole in the roof was cut directly above the location where the iPhones had been stored. Police have launched an inquiry.
The warehouse belonged to Ceva Logistics, a U.S.-owned transport company with headquarters in the Netherlands. Company officials were reported to be "seriously annoyed" but would not comment.
The iPhones were on their way to Mobistar, Apple's exclusive Belgian carrier. Mobistar had been having trouble meeting demand for the popular phones, but Patti Verdoodt, a Mobistar spokesperson, told De Standaard that their supplier had been contacted and a new shipment would arrive well in time for the holidays.
"We have the serial numbers of the stolen iPhones block[ed] anyway so they cannot be used," said Verdoodt (Google translation). But because Belgium is one of only three countries in Europe that sells iPhones without a SIM-lock, that would not prevent the thieves from fencing them for use on another carrier's network.
There is some disagreement in the Belgian press about how many iPhones were taken. De Standaard put the number at nearly 4,000. Gazet van Antwerpen put it at more than 3,000. Both papers agreed that the street value of the loss was about 2 million euros ($3 million).
[Follow Philip Elmer-DeWitt on Twitter @philiped]
Doesn't take Sherlock to figure this one out……Heist through the Chimney, iphones in a napsack? HO HO HO….I've been really good this year.
@paul oldbury…what dyou mean Belgium is a Low Country? Remember prisoners used helicopters to escape because they have high walls. hahahahahah flight 234 bound to casablanca is now boarding
What on earth is an 'earmark'?
Has all the earmarks of an inside job? Think about it…I mean…an ear print?…how's that going to…something to do with precious metals…it just…honestly!
Bit less time worrying about I-phones, little bit more spent reading books old boy.
ex ped: From my dictionary:
earmark |ˈi(ə)rˌmärk|
noun
a mark on the ear of a domesticated animal indicating ownership or identity.
• a characteristic or identifying feature : this car has all the earmarks of a classic.
To Andy and AJ,
All phones have IMEI number, which can be used to block phones. But the block isn't international (unless they can get it to every network provider in the world, which is highly unlikely).
For example, most phones reported lost or stolen in UK, will still work overseas (which is why you have some item on eBay saying it doesn't work in UK).
So it is not for NADA that the phones were stolen. And even if it was possible to block them, they now have 3000-4000 iPod touch.
It all ends up to Romania, Africa, middle-east, etc. Anyway it is great pile of money.
Usually it is that easy to walk in these warehouses. Just dress up like janitor, truck driver etc. and ask the way to the toilet.
Funny, most comments bash the iPhone yet it is selling very well, just wondering why all the hate.
Btw there is a big market in China for the stolen iPhones.
Andy, blacklisting the phones from being used on networks, don't prevent them from being turned on (hence, they 'work' when being demo-ed to a prospective buyer).
Also, your comment about the number of people will to buy a phone from a less than reputable dealer….how do you think so many grey market phones got all over the world before they were released in the first place???
…very technologically advanced phones…maybe the aliens took took them. Was the roof cut with laser precision? i wonder…
AJ, you're assuming there are people out there stupid enough to buy a phone from a less than reputable source before it can be shown to work. I doubt there are enough such foolish people to make the caper pay off.
I like that everyone here thinks that tech theives are stupid. They will hack the phone, they will bypass any security that may exist, and they will turn an easy profit selling them just as hardware.
Beyond that, not every market cares if a phone was stolen. In fact, the wireless carrier should be happy that someone stole a phone and is using it on their network – saves them a huge subsidy and adds a data plan.
Andy, you're wrong. Not in the fact that the iPhones are worthless, just in the fact of who they are worthless to. If the thieves can manage to sell them as grey market phones bought in the US and brought to Belgium, then it's the buyer who ends up getting screwed, not the thief.
A further audit of the warehouse turned up an additional 8000 Palm Pres not listed on any inventory list. Speculation has it that the thieves merely EXCHANGED the Pres for the iPhones at a 2 to 1 ratio… Still… not very fair.
IPhones have what is knows as an IMEI (International Mobile Entity Identity) embedded within the hardware (not in the SIMM card). Once these IMEI's are blacklisted by the telecom carriers, the stolen phones become worthless. So, the thieves have taken the risk and trouble for NADA!
Nab perps, don't be too sure. Sophisticated crime syndicates could fence so unsuspecting individual buyers could be the ones "caught". When buying via eBay (or similar) get last several digits of serial no. when item subject to recall, or in this instance, of questionable origin. Not practical, but no sympathy for those buying in the shadows on a street corner.
Insurance fraud…those things aren't worth $1,000 a piece, which is the valuation they're hanging on them.
hee, hee. Shall we call it iHeist or iDontBelieveIt !! And Belgium is a Low Country – so I'm not surprised they could get into through the roof – oh, ho, ho, ha, ha, better stop!!
I bet the IPHONE has hidden security features that IPHONE owners are not aware of. Big brother is watching…
Correction, Jon. The Palm Pres are on the right side of the entry door. It's the HTCs that are on the left side.
I hope apple has info of serials so the theives can be caught, so sad yet so expected with today's economy.
Jon, Okki-Pekka — You guys made my day.
Anyway, "Dutch-speaking town in the province of Antwerp" makes it sound like an abberation. For the record, the entire province of Antwerp is within the Dutch-speaking part of Belgium. So it's more like a "town in the Dutch-speaking province…"
Olli-Pekka, I share your concern. There are literally hundreds of Palm Pre phones there in that warehouse, it's a really good thing that they were not stolen because they sit right by the entry door on the left side. They are a little dusty but you can still read the labels.
Did they report whether these thieves stole some NOKIA smartphones as well?
Surely these thieves must have known that the NOKIA smartphones offer an unparalleled user experience and seamless integration with apps in the NOKIA Ovi store.
I'm quite sure that if these thieves knew that many hundreds of NOKIA smartphones are located in this very same warehouse at inventory location 46H, Shelf 6, Pallet Location 4, they also would have stolen them too.
As Iphone user I understand to make use of Iphone and operate it you need to go back and hook to iTunes.
So these all phone could be identified and buyer of stolen phone will get caught so be aware before buying stolen phones you will lose money and reputation.
Tranport warehouse insurance will pay for the loss but is additional sale for Apple hardware.
Very clever: Belgium is one of three countries in Europe in which the iPhones does not have a SIM-lock.
That means they are free to use in whatever network you would like to use them.
Here in Germany there is quite a big market for iPhones from Italy,Belgium and Tchechia where the iPhone is offered without SIM-Lock.
So you can be sure that these iPhones will appear at ebay or in stores over the next 3 weeks.
ex ped: Thanks for the information, Martin. I've added that detail to the story.
Steal from the rich and give to the poor (like me :->)