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iPod repairman charged with fraud

22 March 2009 22:03 by Andre "DVDBack23" Yoskowitz | 14 comments

Prosecutors in Michigan have filed fraud charges against an iPod repairman who allegedly received over 9000 replacement iPod Shuffle devices by entering serial numbers into Apple's online web site. He then flipped the devices for full profit.

The man, Nicholas Woodhams, age 23, sold mostly all of the stolen iPods for $49 USD each, making over $400,000 USD profit.

"We've been cooperating with the government and are in the process of negotiating a resolution," said Woodhams' lawyer, Randall Levine. "He is one of those guys who is computer-savvy. This is a very bright man who did not fully appreciate the seriousness of the situation."

The government is currently looking to seize all of Woodhams' assets, including two cars, a motorcycle, seven Mac computers and an undisclosed amount of cash, supposedly in the hundreds of thousands.

Being an independent iPod repairman, Woodhams had full knowledge that he could get free replacements if Shuffle devices were having problems.

"Through trial and error, the defendant determined that he could guess valid, warrantied serial numbers and enter them into Apple's Web site for 'replacement' units without ever in fact purchasing or possessing the 'original' units," Assistant U.S. Attorney Nils Kessler added.

When Apple did not receive the defective iPod in return, they would charge the credit card provided by the customer. Woodhams used credit cards that automatically rejected the transaction however.

An Apple spokesperson noted that the company was fully aware of Woodhams and had already filed a lawsuit in federal court in Grand Rapids last summer.

Permalink to this article | Topics: Gadgets MP3 & Digital Audio

Apple updates iPod Shuffle 'VoiceOver' software (12 April 2009)

mp3HD lossless codec arrives (21 March 2009)

SpiralFrog kicks the bucket (21 March 2009)

iPhone OS 3.0 released to developers (18 March 2009)

New iPod Shuffle stuffed with DRM, says EFF (15 March 2009)

'Exploding' iPod Touch leads to lawsuit (15 March 2009)

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Discuss this article!
core2kid (Senior Member) 22 March 2009 22:26
Bad but very clever indeed. [ + quote]
5fdpfan (Junior Member) 22 March 2009 22:55
The whole thing is pretty funny to me. Got one over on big bad Apple for a little while at least. Ha ha! [ + quote]
Mik3h (AfterDawn Addict) 23 March 2009 3:26
*Quote:* who allegedly received over 9000 replacement iPod Shuffle devices Tee hee hee. Anyway, I wonder if he manually entered the serials for all of them. [ + quote] This message has been edited since posting. Last time this message was edited on 2 April 2009 18:17
DVDBack23 (Staff Member) 23 March 2009 11:45
*Quote:* *Quote:* who allegedly received over 9000 replacement iPod Shuffle devices Tee hee hee. Anyway, I wonder if he manually entered the serials for all of them. ? And he asked his employees to enter many of them. [ + quote]
Mik3h (AfterDawn Addict) 23 March 2009 17:58
*Quote:* who allegedly received over 9000 *Quote:* ? And he asked his employees to enter many of them. Just laughing over a silly internet meme. And I see, thanks for clearing that up! [ + quote]
Azuran (Newbie) 23 March 2009 18:32
*Quote:* *Quote:* *Quote:* who allegedly received over 9000 replacement iPod Shuffle devices Tee hee hee. Anyway, I wonder if he manually entered the serials for all of them. ? And he asked his employees to enter many of them. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TBtpyeLxVkI [ + quote]
bomber991 (Junior Member) 23 March 2009 22:05
Um I don't think this guy broke the law. He took advantage of a flaw in apples system. It's apples fault for sending out the ipods before they charged his credit card. You know when you buy gasoline they temporarily charge $50 on your card before you begin to pump. [ + quote]
DVDBack23 (Staff Member) 24 March 2009 14:42
*Quote:* *Quote:* *Quote:* *Quote:* who allegedly received over 9000 replacement iPod Shuffle devices Tee hee hee. Anyway, I wonder if he manually entered the serials for all of them. ? And he asked his employees to enter many of them. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TBtpyeLxVkI hahaha thanks for explaining :) [ + quote]
jruston (Newbie) 24 March 2009 14:50
I can't believe he actually got away with it for so long that he made so much money. Very clever to do though. Consumer Electronics [ + quote]
chrissd (Newbie) 24 March 2009 23:13
That's.. Pretty cool really. He's very switched on. But it's still theft and fraud so he's stuffed. @bomber991 Yea, he exploited a flaw in the Apple system. But if I hacked a bank tomorrow and stole monies, I'd be sent to jail. Yes they might have a dodgy system, but it's still illegal to take advantage of it. [ + quote]
cart0181 (Junior Member) 25 March 2009 2:17
*Quote:* He is one of those guys who is computer-savvy. This is a very bright man who did not fully appreciate the seriousness of the situation." He doesn't sound very bright to me. I'm surprised at the number of comments from people that think this was some kind of a genius effort. Intelligence is unequal to Wisdom, I suppose. @bomber991 *Quote:* Um I don't think this guy broke the law. lol! Yeah, it's okay to steal stuff as long as it's from a large enough company, they don't miss it, and as long as there is a flaw in their system which makes it their own fault. Just you try it and see what happens to you! imbecile. [ + quote]
borhan9 (AfterDawn Addict) 25 March 2009 3:26
Very clever chap but stupid all the same. [ + quote]
Mik3h (AfterDawn Addict) 25 March 2009 5:42
It is definitely illegal, it falls under fraud. [ + quote]
Fiji5555 (Junior Member) 25 March 2009 20:36
Was a really dumb idea since they easily tracked where the Ipods were going. It amazes me how people think they are going to get away with something like this. [ + quote]