Re: Porch pirates appear to be accessing AT&T data to track iPhone deliveries

badgolferman wrote on Tue, 19 Nov 2024 10:03:22 -0000 (UTC) :

Mostly new iPhones are being stolen according to the article.
 

 
So why do you think iPhones are more popular with the thieves than
Androids?

It's a good question to ask.

Normally I understand almost everything about why people do things with
iPhones (because I study these strange people) but I don't know thieves.

Let me look back into the article to see what they conjecture:
 <https://9to5mac.com/2024/11/18/porch-pirates-appear-to-be-accessing-att-data-to-track-iphone-deliveries/>

a. The thieves appear to be working from within AT&T
b. Those within AT&T are selling the data to the porch pirates
c. That data appears to be current iPhone deliveries

   "There has been a marked uptick in iPhones being stolen from
    doorsteps after being ordered from AT&T and delivered by Fedex,
    apparently with the help of real-time delivery updates"

The main hint in the article is this sentence:
   "AT&T is one of the few telecom companies that, in many cases,
    doesn't require signatures for high-value deliveries like iPhones."

Of course, a high-end Samsung Galaxy would also be a "high value delivery",
so the question is why is the article talking mainly about iPhones.

Dunno.
I only know that it is.