Apple's Find My iPhone feature has caught a fair number of iPhone-snatchers since it was introduced—cops are now being trained to use it—so we shouldn't be surprised that it has now helped catch a counterfeit iPhone seller in Queens.
On March 6 police arrested the owner, manager and four workers of HD Mobile Electronics in Queens after a 22-year-old woman tracked her stolen phone back to the store, according to the police. The woman didn't initially report her phone missing, instead using a friend's phone to track her toy around town. But when the GPS trail led her to HD Mobile, she went and found a police officer.
The officer scoped out the store, saw some funny looking electronics and got a warrant. The NYPD then "seized 12 counterfeit iPhones and six refurbished iPhones that included bogus parts." The six workers who were arrested were charged with trademark counterfeiting. A police source tells the News that the store, like other shady electronics merchants, had been buying stolen iPhones from kids for about $150 a pop.
Sadly, the story doesn't have a happy ending. The woman whose phone led the police the store in the first place never actually her phone back. By the time the police swept in, it was gone.
