Convicted Felon Reveals How He Raked In $300k From Stealing Just iPhones

A masterclass in deception straight from the man behind the con.

Jesse

• Published in News
• September 12, 2024

In a world where losing your phone feels like losing a limb, it’s every iPhone owner’s nightmare to imagine their device in the hands of a skilled thief. Stealing isn’t exactly something to brag about, but every once in a while, a thief comes along whose method is so cunning you can’t help but be curious. 

Enter Aaron Johnson, the mastermind behind a $300,000 iPhone heist. Yes, you read that right—three hundred thousand dollars, all from swiping iPhones.

No ski masks or elaborate break-ins were necessary—his scheme was far more clever. Armed with charm and a well-practiced routine, Johnson managed to stack up six figures using nothing more than people's iPhones and a little tech-savvy know-how.

Now serving a 94-month sentence in the Minnesota Correctional Facility for racketeering, Johnson has decided to pull back the curtain on how he pulled off one of the slickest smartphone scams around. Buckle up because this isn’t your average smash-and-grab story.

So, how did Johnson manage to get away with his elaborate scam for so long? You see, his operation wasn’t your average phone swipe and pawn routine. No, this was a whole production that involved a network of eleven people who helped keep the gears turning.

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Despite his success (if you can call a prison sentence “success”), Johnson is now sharing his tactics—maybe in an effort to redeem himself, or perhaps just because he knows he’s already paying the price.

He would scope out his targets—usually intoxicated, carefree male college-age students. They were the perfect candidates, he explained since they were usually distracted and willing to trust him with their phones. 

He’d approach them under the guise of a friendly encounter—maybe he’d offer to add them on Snapchat or claim he was a rapper looking to connect. His unsuspecting victims would then hand over their phones, blissfully unaware they were playing into his hands. 

And here’s where it gets clever. Johnson would ask for the passcode, pretending he needed it to unlock the phone. Drunk and disoriented, his victims would rattle off their passcodes, thinking nothing of it. 

In some cases, Johnson would even covertly record as they entered it themselves. Once he had the passcode, it was game over.

Johnson’s victims learned the hard way that trusting a stranger can cost you more than you think

After making a smooth exit, Johnson would disable lost phone apps, change Apple ID passwords, and even enroll his face into Face ID. As he put it, “When you’ve got your face on there, you’ve got the key to everything.” 

Before his victims even knew what hit them, he’d emptied their Apple Pay accounts and bought high-end products to sell for cash. Not bad for a night’s work, but definitely illegal.

Johnson’s operation was so smooth that it took authorities a year to catch up with him and his crew.

So, what’s the moral of the story? Don’t trust anyone with your phone—especially if they offer to add you on Snapchat in a dark, crowded bar. It only takes one night and a misplaced trust to lose it all.

Jesse