A Target store in Virginia is missing more than $40,000 worth of iPhones after police say a woman masquerading as an employee simply walked out of the store with the devices.
The Fairfax County Police Department is investigating the theft of dozens of iPhones after a woman entered the Alexandria Target store this week and made off with quite the haul.
Police say the woman entered the store on March 15 and was captured on security camera wearing the uniform of a Target mobile employee — a black polo and khakis. She then made her way to a back stock room, filled a box with more than $40,000 worth of iPhones, and left the store.
While the woman is not believed to be a current or former employee of the store, she apparently did her homework: Authorities say she was familiar with store procedures, employee hours, and knew where the iPhones were kept.
Anyone with more information of the incident is asked to call Fairfax County police at 703-691-2131.
Thieves impersonating retail employees to make off with expensive goods isn’t a new phenomenon, but the recent heist is shockingly similar to an Oct. 2015 theft of $50,000 cellphones.
Police say that on at least two occasions the man — who may have been a former employee of the retail chain — walked into two separate stores pretending to be a Target Mobile representative in order to gain access to an inventory locker full of cellphones.
Before the big phone heists, a man allegedly posed as a Walmart employee in Dallas in order to steal four Samsung televisions.
Authorities say the man, wearing a vest and employee badge, walked straight to the store’s stockroom, loaded up a hand truck with thousands of dollars worth of smart TVs and walked out the door to a waiting Nissan vehicle.
by Ashlee Kieler via Consumerist