Member of Minneapolis phone theft ring reveals how he'd target victims in WSJ interview
MINNEAPOLIS — A Minneapolis phone theft ring is leading to major changes for hundreds of millions of mobile phones.
Last September, investigators busted 12 men accused of operating a cellphone theft ring that stole dozens of phones.
Using those phones, thieves were able to unlock them and drain the bank accounts and virtual funds of the victims while also locking them out of their iCloud accounts — preventing them from accessing or retrieving their saved contacts or photos. A one, two punch with long lasting impacts in the physical and digital worlds.
The Wall Street Journal's Joanna Stern recently sat down with Aaron Johnson, one of the members of the theft ring at the Rush City correctional facility he now calls home.
"So at first I just started pickpocketing phones, I didn't get the passcode and nothing. I just got the phone. I was homeless. I didn't have nothing. Started having kids and needed money," Johnson said.
According to charging documents, most victims were targeted as they left bars while waiting for a ride. Sometimes the suspects were aggressive and left the victims with injuries. Other times they were friendly and asked to borrow their phone or add them on social media. In both cases, they would make sure the victim unlocked their phone, prosecutors said.
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"College. Cause they're already drunk and don't know what 's going on for real," Johnson said when asked who he targeted. "I say I have drugs. They say they want the drugs and I tell them take my information down. The whole time, I don't have any drugs. As soon as the phones in my hand, I just ask them what's the code or I watch them put it in before they give it to me. And then I kind of just talk about other things."
Johnson also said sometimes he would purposefully lock the phone after being handed it unlocked, just to have the victim put the code in again. Sometimes, the victims would just tell him their passcode.
In the mix, the phones would disappear. Johnson would too. As his victim searched for their phone, he searched through their life.
"It's kind of like a like a bank robbery. You got to be quick. You got to go to the settings. Go to iCloud, click Reset Password and put the six digit code and make my own password," Johnson told WSJ. "Before 5 a.m., I will have everything transferred out of the bank. But then if some people have like, credit line or something... That's when I would go shopping. Go get, you know, nice stuff. Go to Nordstrom. Just by beeping my face on there. That's all I gotta do is put my face on it and beep, and I can swipe for thousands of dollars, clothes, shoes, you know, all type of stuff."
"I think it's clear that we are the weakest link, these criminals trick us into helping them commit this crime," said Mark Lanterman with Computer Forensic Solutions. "These are old crimes being committed against new technology. These crimes are nothing new."
Similar to thieves stealing pin numbers and debit cards after leering near ATMs, Lanterman says an iPhone should be treated like an ATM in our pockets.
"You know, it is important to have complex passwords, you know, 123456 doesn't really cut it anymore. Even just adding the seventh character can really help secure your information," Lanterman said. "What a lot of us don't realize is with iPhones anyway, there is a setting that allows you to add a unique password, to add an additional facial recognition requirements on to individual apps."
It may making opening your phone and apps take a little longer. Lanterman says its worth it.
"Some may resist the use of a complex password because it's not convenient. But security is not convenient. Whenever we gain convenience, we give up security. And vice versa. If typing in one additional digit into a unique passcode, if that's inconvenient, just imagine the inconvenience you'll have in trying to get your money back," Lanterman said.
