iPod Scammer Pleads Guilty to Charges of Money Laundering and Fraud
Posted on Apr 13, 2009 10:52am PDT
This past Monday, Nicholas Woodhams, the man who is known best as the "Apple Scammer", pled guilty to charges of
fraud and
money laundering. Woodhams was branded the Apple Scamer after he tricked the large technology company out of 9,000 iPod Shuffles.
According to news reports, Woodhams owned an iPod Mechanic repair shop in Kalamazoo, Michigan. While working in the shop, he took advantage of Apple's warranty program by creating false security numbers. He then submitted the illegitimate security numbers to obtain 9,000 iPod Shuffle replacements from Apple without returning any originals.
When people return their iPods, Apple has a policy that requires customers to ship their defective items to the company. However, Woodhams created a plan to get around Apple's policy that involved pre-paid VISA gift cards and a UPS store's mailbox. Whenever Apple would try to charge him for one of the unreturned iPods, the VISA gift cards would reject the charges. His plan worked and allowed him to collect 9,000 iPod Shuffles, which he sold for profit on his website.
Aside from stealing merchandise from Apple, Woodhams also defrauded the company by sending in out-of-warranty iPods with back casings that had been replaced with in-warranty iPods so that he could get free repairs. It is assumed that he then charged his customers for the repairs, which were given to him for free.
At this time, Woodhams has not been formally sentenced. However, he has agreed to give up the personal property he purchased with his scams. His property includes a house, cars and more than $57,000 in cash.
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