The art of stealing isn’t as complex as films like ‘Ocean’s 11’ would lead you to believe. All you have to do is dress the part, which is easy if you’re targeting the Apple Store where employees are dressed in a plain blue t-shirt with a small Apple logo.
Last week in New York City, a man entered the SoHo Apple Store wearing what was visually close enough to the Apple employee uniform, managed to go straight into the electronics repair room, and stole 19 iPhones from the drawer. As he exited the room, he handed the phones to an accomplice who hid them under his shirt and walked out of the store.
It’s not the first time a similar theft has happened either – earlier this year, NYC Apple Stores were also hit with the same kind of robbery where a band of thieves disguised as employees stole a total of 59 iPhones. Because the phones were taken out of the repair room, they were no longer tagged with sensors to alert security when they exited the store.
Apple’s blue uniform was part of a rebrand that aimed to clean up the look of the company’s retail presence. The policy, titled “Black to Blue,” was implemented in early 2015 and allows employees to dress in variations of the deep blue top – from long and short sleeves to crew and polo necks. While the uniforms are given to workers at the start of their employment, it’s not hard to find copycats on eBay or attempt printing your own.
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Apple employee uniforms change seasonally, but it might soon be time for the company to either find a more complex look or increase security by the repair rooms. Both probably couldn’t hurt.
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