Thieves Steal €3,000,000 of iPhones in Belgium

[Paul Daniel Ash]

In a daring heist, thieves took anywhere from 3,000 to 4,000 iPhones from a warehouse in Belgium, with a street value of up to 2 million euro, or $3 million US. The robbers may be foiled, however: wireless carrier Mobistar, for whom the phones were intended, say they have a list of all the serial numbers and that they will block the phones from accessing their network.

The thieves climbed a fire ladder to the roof of a warehouse owned by CEVA Logistics, a Netherlands-based logistics company in Willebroek, Belgium. They then cut a hole in the roof of the large building directly above where the iPhones were located. Reports in the De Standaard newspaper suggested the thieves knew about iPhone delivery and storage location details, and that the robbery may have been an inside job.

Mobistar, which has had problems keeping the iPhone 3G and iPhone 3GS in stock, is reportedly in an urgent search for more devices before inventory runs low. With the holiday season coming, the breakin could prove costly to the carrier's business. Mobistar has prepared for a large number of devices coming onto the black market by blocking them from accessing the Mobistar network. However, the strong likelihood is that these phones will be unlocked before they are sold.

Police say they have no leads.

image from Gizmodo

[hancoma]

Exactly what I was thinking, unlock them and I think it would be very difficult to have any traceability...

Good times

[evolasme]

They'll end up here in Germany for sure....

[Calco]

actually they would be traceable..
here in egypt we trace mobile phones by their IMEI numbers.. so if they know their IMEI numbers they could trace the phones when they are used on any network.. they just need this specific network's assistance and help

[xwinger]

wow that's a **** move!

I don't like thieves.

[adp]

Give it a few days, they'll start showing up on eBay, and people will place ridiculous bids within the last 3 minutes (double that if it says "unlocked 3.1.2").

[one1]

H-U-G-E.


Just huge.

[symondavis]

oh come on, they'll be IMEI barred in a few days with all carriers, and I even bet the iTunes server will be notified that they're stolen and won't activate them. Making them nothing more than an iPod Touch.

Mmmm.... Now I wonder if the iTune server and do a trace on them upon activation as they have GPS! May have to keep an eye on this story.

[Risingstar]

Ahahaha! That's hilarious! Thank god Mobistar blocked the phones otherwise there would have been a REAL crisis!
Does Mobistar seriously think the robbers are going to personally use 4,000 different iPhones?

[Raptors]

Lmao I luv this!!
Normally thieves are retarded, but not here! Maybe they can give me a couple

[carlos916]

Ok... so were can I get one of these phones???!!

[ifonemaniac]

H-U-G-E.


Just huge.

thats what she said

[hollow0]

oh come on, they'll be IMEI barred in a few days with all carriers, and I even bet the iTunes server will be notified that they're stolen and won't activate them. Making them nothing more than an iPod Touch.

Mmmm.... Now I wonder if the iTune server and do a trace on them upon activation as they have GPS! May have to keep an eye on this story.

Actually that's not true.. you don't need iTunes to activate. That's why we have pwnagetool to activate the phones. This is assuming they've been unlocked though. These phones could be sold around the world though so who knows how this will end up.

[big poops]

BADASS!!!!! straight up movie sheeit!! These guys R ASSOME!!! nobody would pull a job like this for any other phone!! not even the new suckass Droid!! iPhone is the SHIZNIT!!!

[hollow0]

thats what she said

lol!

[reddawg]

Lmao I luv this!!
Normally thieves are retarded, but not here! Maybe they can give me a couple

What's to love about it this? I guess it's different when someone breaks into your house and steals your iPhone, computer, TV's, stereos, etc, then it sucks, right?

[adp]

thats what she said

hahahahaha! Rofl!

[hancoma]

After doing some searching, there is supposedly a program out there to change the Imei of your iphone.
Not sure how reliable this is but here is the link.
iClarified - iPhone - How to Change Your iPhone IMEI with ZiPhone (Windows)

Additionally, from all appearances, these guys were very well organized in their execution, and quite possibly have all of their bases covered such as; (shipping to another country, changing imei or s/n).

I doubt these will show up on ebay, but if they are delivered to a country with a huge black market for iphones I very seriously doubt they will be recovered.

Any takers?

[ima80baby]

With BlackRa1n, these phones can be jailbroken and unlocked within a week.

[adp]

After doing some searching, there is supposedly a program out there to change the Imei of your iphone.
Not sure how reliable this is but here is the link.
iClarified - iPhone - How to Change Your iPhone IMEI with ZiPhone (Windows)

Additionally, from all appearances, these guys were very well organized in their execution, and quite possibly have all of their bases covered such as; (shipping to another country, changing imei or s/n).

I doubt these will show up on ebay, but if they are delivered to a country with a huge black market for iphones I very seriously doubt they will be recovered.

Any takers?

The Ziphone method to change your IMEI is useless now. It only worked with 1.xx firmware. It's practically impossible to change your IMEI with the new basebands/firmware. Dev-team gave up on it a long time ago. It's probably due to the fact that messing with this can get you in trouble with the feds.