Man accused in massive iPod repair scam

Jake Widman
Friday, 20 March 2009 06:07

Your IT - Home IT

Prosecutors in Michigan have charged the operator of an iPod repair business with fraudulently acquiring and selling more than 9,000 iPod shuffles by taking advantage of Apple's replacement program.
According to court documents, Nicholas Woodhams, 23, figured out a way to guess valid serial numbers for shuffles that were still under warranty. He, or his employees at his iPod repair business, would then file requests for replacement units on Apple's Web site -- even though the never owned the original units with those serial numbers -- and have the replacements sent to a variety of addresses or postal boxes, say prosecutors.

Prosecutors further allege that Woodhams sold the replacement shuffles for US$49 each. And in a different scheme, they say, Woodhams would swap the back casings of out-of-warranty iPods with the casings from units that were still under warranty, and then send the out-of-warranty players in for free repair or replacement.

 "This is a very bright man who did not fully appreciate the seriousness of the situation," said Woodhams' lawyer Randall Levine. The government has its eyes on seven Macs, three vehicles, and several hundred thousand dollars of Woodhams' money that allegedly were part of his ill-gotten gains. "We've been cooperating with the government and are in the process of negotiating a resolution," said Levine.