I hope you weren’t planning on getting away with it.
Looters who invaded a French Apple Store during the chaotic riots were reportedly greeted with warnings from their ill-gotten gains that the merchandise was locked and tracked.
A viral video from the looting of the Apple Store in Lille on October 17 shows one of the thieves displaying the security warning on the stolen iPhone.
“Please return the device to Apple Lille. This device has been deactivated and is being tracked. Local authorities will be alerted,” the alert states.
Apple products are famous for displaying such warnings when they detect they have been stolen in stores, and many people on social media are mocking the thieves who were seen rummaging through the seller’s store over the weekend.
“Protesters broke into an Apple Store in Lille, France yesterday, the stupidest move ever,” someone posted on X.
“Taking iPhones that will be blocked 2 minutes later, morons,” another person added.
“These products will be blocked and their location will be identified,” another user correctly predicted.
The Apple store in Lille was among the major luxury goods stores hit across the country during Saturday’s mass protest, with rioters also attacking Louis Vuitton, Hermes and Dior stores.
In Bordeaux, a masked crowd was seen forcing open the doors of a Louis Vuitton store, as a parade of protesters waved red flags with hammer and sickle signs along the street.
In Marseille, looters targeted luxury brand Hermès, as well as stores selling jewelry, makeup and clothing.
The protests, which began over the education crisis and the cost of living, quickly turned into chaos, with around 1,800 people arrested and more than 500 police officers injured.
Insurance costs related to the riots are expected to reach between $1.3 billion and $1.6 billion, according to investment firm Morningstar, nearly double the price tag for the 2023 riots following the police shooting of Nahel Merzouk.
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