A strange and potentially intricate fencing operation seems to have surfaced with a customer purchasing a new MacBook Pro from a Best Buy location, the computer launching the Remote Management screen upon initial boot and stating that the computer was owned by finance company American Express.
Per Reddit:
“Sorry if this isn’t the right group!
But I just bought a brand new MacBook Pro. I was setting it up when a pop up came up saying — “Remote Management
This max is owned by: American Express.”
What the heck does this mean?…
I’ll include a photo below. Did they accidentally give me a refurbished one? I do not understand.”
The comments dig into potential details of the scam itself, including local thieves stealing notebooks, placing them in official Apple packaging obtained through Best Buy, and running refund scams all the while. Criticism also arose as to Apple’s official packaging and the ease of bypassing both Apple’s and Best Buy’s security protocols.
If you’ve seen anything similar to this on your end, please let us know about it in the comments.
Via Reddit