Thief dresses like Apple store employee, makes off with 19 iPhones

A man dressed like an Apple store employee waltzed into the company's New York City SoHo location and used the disguise to make off with 19 iPhones, worth over $16,000.

The suspect was wearing a blue shirt that looked similar enough to actual employees that he blended in on June 1, according to DNA Info. He took the phones right out of a drawer in the store's repair room before passing them to an accomplice who reportedly hid the phones under his shirt. 

As Gizmodo points out, thieves used a similar method earlier this year when hitting another NYC Apple store -- twice -- to steal several dozen iPhones. (There's no indication the two are connected as of yet.) 

That location, on the Upper West Side, was known as a training location for workers so new faces wouldn't raise questions. 

Gizmodo digs in to Apple's 2015 decision to change from a rotating, seasonal uniform, to a standard year-round uniform -- the "Back to Blue" campaign" -- as a reason why it might be so easy for these thieves to make off with all the merchandise. 

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After all, as The Next Web notes, it's pretty easy to just buy one of the shirts online. And YouTube has a few "prank" videos where the pranksters impersonate Apple store employees with ease. 

Mashable has reached out to Apple about the thefts.

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