This week, Apple introduced two new iPhones with new features, including fingerprint recognition on one model and extra password protections. This is the company's first major effort to address smartphone thefts — but it's up against a sophisticated black market that has had years to grow and adapt to meet the world's desire for smartphones.
To call smartphone-related crime an epidemic is not an exaggeration. By one estimate, more than 4,000 phones are stolen every day in the United States.
Last year the crime rate in New York City rose after years of declines. The reason? Fifteen thousand people reported a stolen phone.
Jessica Ingle was one — her phone was stolen in a crowded bar. "I didn't even notice it," she says. "They must be experienced or something at doing it without people noticing."
Pick Up The Phone
Over the summer, I spent a day driving around Brooklyn, hitting up places that advertise on Craigslist, saying "we buy used iPhones."
I bring an iPhone 4, I borrowed from my co-worker, which she had wiped.
Over the phone, a buyer named John agrees to meet me on the street in a rundown part of town.
John spots me right away. We shake hands, and he takes me inside a beauty parlor, where women sit underneath hair dryers. They hardly look up from their magazines as John introduces me to his business partner. This guy picks up the phone, flicks through several screens, and says how much do you want for it?
I don't sell it.
I'll just say it: It didn't seem to me like these guys were too concerned out of any ethical standpoint where the phone came from. They also seemed pretty confident after looking at a phone that had been wiped that they would be able to sell it on, no problem.
— Ilya Marritz, WNYC