Apple Crime Blotter: Threats, thefts, and iPad confusion

From London iPhone victims receiving threatening calls to an AirTag leading police to an accused suspect in Pittsburgh, this week’s Apple Crime Blotter tracks how Apple devices and accounts keep finding themselves at the center of crime—and how misinformation

London iPhone theft doesn’t end with a stolen phone. For some victims, it continues—through the fear that arrives later on the screen.

In recent years, London has seen a wave of iPhone thefts, with 81,000 reported stolen in 2024 and 71,000 in 2025. On May 23. The New York Times reported that many people targeted by these thefts later received threatening phone calls and text messages from the thieves. One message. received by a Chicago resident whose iPhone was stolen in London. warned: “I know who you are and where you live. ” and said. “I’ve killed or far less than a phone before.” The newspaper said the threats are often tied to the thieves’ desire to have victims unlink their IDs from the stolen devices.

In Pittsburgh, the path to an arrest looked different—but just as determined. A man accused of both sexual assault and burglary was caught after he allegedly stole an AirTag from a victim’s home. CBS News Pittsburgh reported that along with the AirTag, $2 in cash was taken. Police followed the ping to a nearby location where the man was arrested. and fingerprints left at the scene also pointed to that suspect. He confessed to the assault, but not to the theft of the AirTag. Prosecutors charged him with burglary, aggravated indecent assault, and indecent assault.

Back in Illinois, a separate case shows how quickly a high-value phone theft can turn into a felony. A 34-year-old temporary employee at a logistics facility in Illinois was charged with stealing $31,000 worth of iPhones from the building. Fox 32 Chicago reported that the man was caught on security footage entering a trailer and later concealing about 40 stolen iPhones in a sweater. He lives in Chicago and was charged with a felony count of theft.

The blotter also makes room for a different kind of damage: scams and misinformation that travel faster than facts. In Folsom, California, a resident told police they were contacted by phone by a bogus Apple customer service representative. According to The Folsom Times. the fake representative told the victim about false transactions. and then the scam escalated when the person met the victim and “collected $15. 000 in cash.” Police are looking for accountability as the fraudsters move on.

And in California prisons, a story about devices has been tangled up with the wrong label. In mid-May. a report by City Journal alleged that state prisoners in California. including some on death row. were given tablet computers—claimed to be used to watch pornography and for other controversial purposes. But multiple aggregations of that report by other media outlets. including one by Fox LA. incorrectly referred to the tablets as “iPads.”.

The program. the article says. involved tablets under a contract originally tied to Viapath/Global Tel Link. then changed through a bidding process that led to a switch in vendor to Securus Technologies. Securus provides Android tablets under the EVOTAB brand. The tablets are not iPads, and there are no reports that Apple has ever been involved in the program. The House Oversight Committee chairman, Rep. James Comer (R-SC), had called the tablets “iPads” when announcing plans for Congress to investigate the program. In his post on May 26. Comer asked. “Why are taxpayers providing prisoners in California IPads to prey on women and minors?”.

Information about “city-managed Apple accounts” also appears in this week’s thread of Apple-related reporting. Brian O’Hara. the Minneapolis Police Chief and a prominent figure during the recent ICE siege in that city. resigned on May 26. The New York Times reported that he stepped down following “a personnel investigation into his conduct. ” and that O’Hara had likely deleted a contact from his phone last year while facing a previous internal investigation into allegations that he had sexual relationships with city workers. The report found no evidence that such relationships occurred. KSTP published the report itself. including evidence from an “Original Investigation” that featured “Information from the City’s IT department about a transfer to City-managed Apple accounts on March 20. 2025.”.

Elsewhere, Apple devices are showing up in fraud and street theft in plain, ordinary ways. In Florida. a man was arrested on May 17 and charged with stealing an iPhone and perpetrating a “wave of fraudulent credit card charges.” CBS 12 reported that a victim approached the Stuart Police Department in December 2025 after saying his iCloud account was compromised. Over the course of a month, fraudulent purchases continued, including gift cards and other items. The man was arrested on five counts of fraudulent use of identification, petit theft, and theft of a credit card.

In New York. police in Rye put out a call in April for help identifying a “porch pirate” caught on camera stealing a “freshly delivered Apple Watch off the front porch of a residence in a neighborhood in close proximity to the Playland Parkway.” The police department said the suspect arrived on a motorized scooter 45 minutes after the package was delivered by UPS.

The blotter also tracks thefts affecting public figures. An iPhone belonging to Bangladeshi actress Tanha Tasnia Islam was stolen in mid-May. Daily New Nation reported it was allegedly taken by a man falsely posing as the driver for a different actor. Joy Chowdhury. Discussions have begun in relation to the theft at Bangladesh Film Development Corporation (BFDC). the report said. and it took place while the actress was dubbing dialogue.

And in the Philippines, a pageant contestant became another victim. An iPhone “snatched” from a candidate for Miss International Queen Philippines was stolen in mid-May. The Daily Tribune wrote that the iPhone belonging to Mikay Bautista—a woman competing in the pageant and described as the first runner-up—was stolen by riding-in-tandem suspects while she was in Quezon City. The theft occurred two days before the competition.

The through-line across these incidents is how Apple-related devices can become both the target and the trigger—whether it’s a stolen phone followed by threatening messages. an AirTag ping leading police to an arrest. or a scam turning a warning about “transactions” into a cash handoff. In the same week. the devices also collide with a separate reality: claims that spread online as quickly as the theft stories. and the insistence—backed by contract and vendor details—that “iPad” isn’t always the right word for what was actually provided.

Apple Crime Blotter iPhone theft AirTag London iPhone theft threats Securus EVOTAB Rep. James Comer Minneapolis Apple accounts fraudulent credit card charges porch pirate Apple Watch Folsom Apple scam