Arrested: Man who keeps ‘losing’ iPhone
Predeep Nambiar
-November 27, 2018 9:33 PM
GEORGE TOWN: Police have uncovered a ruse to defraud insurance companies by a marketing manager who filed reports yearly claiming his iPhone had been stolen or lost.He also sold off the “lost” phones online to make even more money.
Central Seberang Perai police chief Nik Ros Nik Abdul Hamid.Central Seberang Perai police chief Nik Ros Nik Abdul Hamid said the man’s activities came to light after officers sensed something was amiss in the suspect’s latest report.
The 34-year-old man from Bukit Mertajam had claimed that he was robbed of his iPhone XS Max, Apple’s flagship model costing RM5,399, by two men on a motorcycle outside his mother-in-law’s house near Bukit Mertajam on Saturday.
He claimed he also lost his iPad Pro, a MacBook Pro laptop and other valuables to the robbers.
“However, when we looked into his background, we found his prior police reports, which all had a similar pattern. Every report showed he had lost an iPhone.”
Nik Ros said after interrogation, the man confessed he had been dealing in iPhones and MacBooks on the popular lowyat.net forum for some time.
He said the man used to sell Apple products on the forum and had later reported them stolen to claim insurance. He said he would buy a new iPhone once he got his money from the insurance company.
His first report was filed in 2013.
“We went to his mother-in-law’s house in Kampung Baru, Bukit Mertajam, and found his MacBook Pro, which was reported stolen, there,” Nik Ros said.
The man later told police that he had sold the iPhone for about RM5,000 and his MacBook for about RM6,000 online
