A North Hollywood man claims his laptop was stolen from an Apple store in Glendale after someone presented a fake ID.
“This feels terribly weird,” resident Rick Markowitz said.
Markowitz says he is the latest Apple customer to have his new computer stolen by an impersonator. However, his story differs from the other victims in Irvine and Lawndale because he had his MacBook delivered to the Glendale Galleria store instead of his front porch.
“They said, ‘Hey, you already picked up your laptop,'” Markowitz recalled. “I say, ‘What are you doing? I was sick in bed yesterday. I haven’t picked up this laptop yet.’
Markowitz says the person who allegedly stole his computer showed an ID with his personal information and the required QR code and walked out. He added that store managers told him his phone must have been hacked. However, he didn’t believe them.
“I think I’m out $3,600,” Markowitz said. ‘I haven’t heard from Apple yet. I know it was Thanksgiving. I haven’t heard from the LAPD yet.”
A few weeks ago, expensive Apple products were intercepted twice when UPS drivers tried to leave the boxes on the porch. Police say the suspect showed the delivery people false identification that matched the names on the computer orders.
It first happened in Lawndale on November 14th then again on November 18 Irvine. No one has been arrested since Monday.
Irvine police said they are trying to determine how the suspect obtained the recipient’s information.
“What’s the safer option? Send it to my house, which I might not be near, or at least go to the store where it’s safe?” Markowitz said.