Two men linked to at least eight fraud cases involving the theft of laptops with the use of fake identification and QR codes have been arrested, investigators announced.
A pair of men impersonated actual customers who purchased laptops at Apple stores and other businesses by using fraudulent IDs and bogus QR codes, according to the Glendale Police Department.
Paul Giles said he was a victim of one of these scams. He wasn’t aware until he tried to pick up his purchase at the Americana at Brand.
“From the time I got the initial email from Apple saying it’s ready to pick up and the time that they actually went to the store to pick it up,” Giles said.
The victim said the theft happened in a matter of about four hours.
“It was someone who impersonated me. Showed the ID, showed the QR code that was through the email system and with that, ‘Paul Giles’ got the laptop,” Giles said.
Giles said a detective later informed him that thieves buy information and are told where to go to pick up goods.
“It’s really easy to get this information,” said Jim Stickley, a cybersecurity expert. “You can jump on the dark web. There’s sites that are literally dedicated to selling just these types of information.”
Stickley added that oftentimes, victims are unaware that their emails have been compromised.
“Everything’s in the cloud now, so they’ll access your email,” he said. “So once they gain access, they’ll just put a rule in that basically forwards all of your emails. So now you get a copy and they get a copy and you’d have no idea.”
Police did not release the names of the men who were arrested in connection with the scheme. The department said they’re searching for a third individual, but did not provide a detailed description of that person.