Dateline "exposes" iPod thieves via hidden camera

There's probably nothing quite as embarrassing as being ambushed on national television by Chris Hansen for stealing a measly iPod. Of course, NBC's crack team of journalists are just trying to expose the growing trend of iPod theft in the world... or kick up their ratings. In a bizarre and somewhat convoluted "hidden camera" scheme, Dateline nabs thieves at their own game by allowing them to steal new iPods bundled with a "special" install disc which secretly hands over the user's information to the news program. The venus-fly-trap-like plot unfolds as the crew leaves "unattended" iPods in high traffic areas, and is then shocked to see people walking off with them. With all due respect, Dateline, you were pretty much asking for it. If you'd like to know how it all ends, hit the read link for the six page transcript.

[Mark S @ Aug 2nd 2007 10:17PM]

Didn't a Dateline sting go horribly wrong recently when they used a "venus-fly-trap-like plot" to catch child stalkers? One man killed himself soon after they confronted him, and the town was devastated.

[Miles @ Aug 2nd 2007 10:35PM]

No, they didn't do a sting that went horribly wrong. Some pedophile got caught on national TV trying to pick up a child and got arrested. He being that area's District Attorney (or Assistant I don't remember) then killed himself because his life was over. I don't think you can blame Dateline for some creep killing himself. Especially if he knows the law.

[desu @ Aug 2nd 2007 11:23PM]

@Miles

they guy never showed up to see the girl,i think he caved to his concience, and the situation should have ended there but when the cops showed up shot himself.

[Revrant2394 @ Aug 2nd 2007 11:33PM]

I'd have to agree, Dateline shouldn't be responsible for a pervert unable to face the truth and get some damned help.

Though perverted justice are sociopathic creeps all the same, I've met a few, they aren't good people. Wait, why is this comment even on this story?

[I LOVE THE CAPS LOCK KEY @ Aug 3rd 2007 12:13AM]

Dateline is the same show that in the early 90's faked Chevrolet pickup truck explosions and made a news story about how dangerous it was to have a Chevy with a side mounted gas tank. GM denied any wrong doing and Dateline fired back holding their stance against GM. Thousands of people went in to panic spending hundreds of dollars to have their gas tanks relocated in between the frame beams. As it later turned out, they (dateline nbc) confessed to planting estes model rocket motors in the gasoline tanks to ingnite the fuel. The whole story was a hoax.

[Harkonian @ Aug 3rd 2007 12:00PM]

Isn't it illegal for DateLine to install what is basically a virus on the user's computer under the guise of Apple software that transmits his personal information?

[KC @ Aug 3rd 2007 1:59PM]

Yes, that one went horribly wrong. The guy never showed up to the bait house. So the police sent the whole SWAT team - as if he's 10 armed terrorists attempting to steal an aircraft - for dramatic effect to his home, where he shot himself in the head when they used a robot battering ram to knock down his door. Keep in mind to that point - because he did not go to the house - he HAD NOT COMMITTED A CRIME.

Also, there was 25 cases thrown out by a DA because Dateline decided to use Miss USA as the person posing as the teen girl and Miss USA did not realize that because she was an agent in the investigation she'd have to make 25 court appearances to testify against these men and she refused to do so.

There have been hundreds of bungled cases that never aired from "To Catch a predator" and the whole show should be illegal because it absolutely is entrapment. These guys are led t believe the girl is willing and consenting. The undercover person in most cases is the one who starts up the conversations, they are the one who INVITE the person to the bait house.

So are we catching predators with that show or opportunists? Would any of those guys seek out sexual relations with a teen - which by the way is not pedophilia at all and not categorized as a mental disorder as pedophilia is EXCLUSIVELY defined as a primary sexual attraction for PRE-PUBESCENT children which teenagers are not - if they were not invited by the teen?

To catch a predator is no different from this iPod scam. None of it has anything to do with justice or protecting rights, it's all just about ratings.

[Don @ Aug 3rd 2007 4:01PM]

KC, That was a great post.

[I LOVE THE CAPS LOCK KEY @ Aug 3rd 2007 10:39PM]

Here's a link to the GM/Dateline fiasco:

http://carblog.classifieds1000.com/car_parts/20070510-065857-Automobile-Fuel-Tanks

[I LOVE THE CAPS LOCK KEY @ Aug 5th 2007 6:55AM]

More links:

http://www.whatreallyhappened.com/RANCHO/LIE/nbc.html
http://www.brainyhistory.com/events/1993/february_8_1993_167855.html
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?sec=health&res=9F0CE7D81F39F93AA2575BC0A965958260

[Joseph @ Aug 2nd 2007 10:30PM]

Ratings!

[Mark S @ Aug 2nd 2007 10:32PM]

http://www.shortnews.com/start.cfm?id=63315 is the news article I was referring about. The source article is no longer available, but Google it if you don't trust SN.

[Thomas Bags @ Aug 2nd 2007 10:33PM]

XD hey I watched that and you know what they flashed without thinking about it? 16 working iPod serials. FREE REPAIRS FOR ME!!!

[Thomas Bags @ Aug 2nd 2007 10:55PM]

and if you don't belive me,
8K703BJFV9K 16-Mar-07
8K703B8RV9K 20-Mar-07
8Q6500DEV9M 1-Feb-07
8Q6502UFV9M 1-Feb-07
8Q6502WEV9M 1-Feb-07
8Q6502Y3V9M 1-Feb-07
8L648D8GV9K 21-Mar-07
8K701HKGV9M 5-Feb-07
8K649CY7V9M 1-Feb-07
8K646LY7V9K 18-Dec-06
8K703B6VV9K 16-Feb-07
8K703C55V9K 16-Feb-07
8K703BZAV9K 16-Feb-07
8K703DE3V9K 29-Mar-07

[Thomas Bags @ Aug 3rd 2007 12:13AM]

actually I have various broken parts and now get free replacements and free phone support

[jabbe @ Aug 2nd 2007 10:36PM]

i watched the show and some of the ipod scenarios were kinda questionable (like leaving an ipod on a street bench. is that theft?) but it does raise some valid points about why apple doesn't do more to help curb this problem.

[John Doe @ Aug 2nd 2007 11:41PM]

Ummm the manufacturer's responsibility ends, as far as security is concerned, as soon as you walk out the door. This is the problem with America in general. No one wants to take responsibility for anything anymore. Fuck the person who leaves their car door unlocked. Fuck the person who buys a toy that wasn't designed for his 2 year old. I mean really. People need to take responsibility for the shit they do, or in many cases do not do.

As for the iPod. The first thing I did was ditch the telltale white headphones for a nice set of black Sony headphones. At that point not one gives you a second look. Oh boo hoo people don't know I have an iPod....Only a very shallow person would give a crap about this.

[jabbe @ Aug 2nd 2007 11:48PM]

so i guess what you're saying that anyone who is a victim of crime probably had it coming to them and they should shut the hell up.

[Evan @ Aug 2nd 2007 11:53PM]

I am more amazed by the people who yanked the iPods more than anything else. Seriously, we aren't doing too good in society when anything gets left unattended for a few minutes it dissapears. Every time something was taken it wasn't as if it was literally sitting on a bench with nothing else around. People searched cars, purses, bags, etc. to get the iPod. That pretty much says it all. Maybe it would be different if they stumbled upon literally an unopened box with nothing around it.

With all that said, I don't think anyone who leaves their stuff unattended should be surprised. It was just unbelievable how people can so easily disassociate the item with real people. To them, its their lucky day and who cares if they ruined someone else's.

Too bad they didn't do it with the Zune, it would have been curious to see. My bet is that they may have looked at the boxed for a moment confused, then probably snatch it anyway.

[RLB @ Aug 3rd 2007 12:40AM]

WHat the hell? taking something from a bench is not stealing, I wouldn't think about it and just take the damn thing, take it to lost & found?? PLEASE!! the L&F guy's going to take it anyway, call security?? same thing!, If I don't grab it someone else is going to, and the person who bought it lost it the minute he left it on that bench so he's already fucked. That's what happens when you are a moron and leave a $250.00 gadget you just bought behind...

[tr @ Aug 2nd 2007 10:41PM]

i watched that, and from what i remember, they said they only recovered 12 out of the 20 iPods they planted. so i'm guessing the ones that weren't recovered, that probably means that the people with those never loaded their "special" software registration, or just never registered their iPod with apple at all.

[tb @ Aug 2nd 2007 10:49PM]

any intelligent person that picks up a new ipod like that would throw the cd away and simply never register(hell, i don't even register the things I buy)

[Ryhan @ Aug 2nd 2007 11:44PM]

Jeesh; I thought people knew that iPods came sans cds

[Chuckles McGee @ Aug 2nd 2007 11:50PM]

Or the people's antivirus/spyware blocker caught it. Like Dateline has serious hackers.

[Evan @ Aug 2nd 2007 11:54PM]

Ha, they don't come with cds anymore? I guess it has been a long time since I got my iPod.

[Kieran @ Aug 7th 2007 12:22PM]

Its been 5 years since I got my iPod. No CD anymore? When I got it the CD wasnt windows compatable so I had to go buy iTunes separately. What a waste. Never use it anymore. WMP FTW. Let the Flaming begin. I can already see the torches.

[zegoldfish @ Aug 2nd 2007 10:49PM]

Leaving an iPod out in a public area, unattended, is definitely questionable. I, personally, wouldn't consider it theft. I'd like to think that I would kinda do the right thing, like make a post on craigslist in the lost+found section saying that if the rightful owner hadn't contacted me, and proven themselves the rightful owner, after say 30 days, I was keeping the iPod. Now is that so bad? Should I be arrested for that?

I know one thing for sure. If I spot an unattended iPod out in public I'm sure as hell not using the install disc. :P

[John @ Aug 3rd 2007 12:22AM]

uh.... leaving stuff in your car is a completely different ballpark from leaving junk sitting on a bench. If it's in your car, then it's obvious whose it is. There's an additional level of violation too, in that you have to go into the car to get the item. Leaving valuables on a car seat and leaving the door open, that I can see as parallel, but if you think that people who leaves valuables "in the open" in their cars are asking for it, then you're a kleptomaniac. Do you think that someone who has a TV by their house windows is also asking for it? If I have some quality counters in my kitchen and they too are in plain sight with some big ol windows, am I still asking for it?

[Neebs @ Aug 2nd 2007 10:55PM]

You know what I wonder? When they'll realize iPods aren't the only kind of MP3 player out there.

[The Pepto Pimp @ Aug 3rd 2007 11:18AM]

There are others? Like what?

[WL @ Aug 4th 2007 9:40AM]

If I were a thief who snagged a hide-a-pod I would be very disappointed to learn the truth.

[Jonathan DUCREST @ Aug 2nd 2007 11:07PM]

We know why apple isnt doing anything, a stolen ipod will need a replacement... why spend money and time on finding an ipod when you could sell a new one to the person who had it stolen?

[Phillip Black @ Aug 2nd 2007 11:00PM]

If only they had a "hide-a-pod"

[nih @ Aug 2nd 2007 11:04PM]

Theft isn't really a 'grey area'. If you have something that doesn't belong to you, it's theft. It doesn't matter that you 'found it lying around'.

As for deliberately leaving them in the street - they could hardly have a show for you to enjoy otherwise. It seems like a reasonable option if you're making a show about catching casual iPod thieves.

I was more impressed however by a show they did over here. Several boy-racer cars were kitted out with in-cabin cameras, alarms, gps and remote deactivation kits. They then left them secured in parking lots. In some cases they took weeks to be stolen. Part of the focus of the show was on how these crooks overcame the car alarms which seems more legitimate than just leaving an iPod in the street.

[MMalecky @ Aug 3rd 2007 3:50AM]

Where is "over here?"

[TJ @ Aug 3rd 2007 9:52AM]

if you have something that doesnt belong to you? isnt possesion 9/10s of the law? LOL

[BananaBoat @ Aug 2nd 2007 11:07PM]

This report should stop more kids from becoming An Hero due to a stolen iPod. In all honesty, a good upstanding citizen would turn the iPod in to the police, but if they didn't I could see why too (Chances of the iPod's owner being found are slim. Might aswell keep it for yourself)

[quux @ Aug 21st 2007 8:20PM]

Theres another headline here: READ THE EULA!

They put into the EULA an agreement that Dateline could have the registrant's personal data. And they must also have put something in there about spyware, because one kid entered fake data and they caught him anyway, from other info snooped out of his PC by the doctored Apple install CD.

Makes you think, hmm?

[steve miller @ Aug 2nd 2007 11:15PM]

Dateline's recent show about ipod theft was more about what people do if they find
an ipod abandoned then about theft. Only one scene did I see where a women
reached into an open car window would I call a theft. All the others were
ipods left in public areas where people found them as if abandoned by their
owners.The person who finds it can either take it to security or the police
department where it may or may not be re-united with it's owner, or they
could keep it. I am not aware that the law would claim keeping something
found in a public area as a theft. If I find a quarter lying on the ground
and put it in my pocket is that theft? I could of course take the quarter to
the local police or give it to a charity. Accusing people of theft for
keeping a piece of lost property was wrong for Dateline to do. That isn't theft!
Taking a piece of property that that was inside a car is theft. Inside a
mall the original owner may look for it at the security office but in a very
public area such as a park bench it is unlikely the item would be reunited
with it's owner by taking it to a police department or the park management.
Now if Dateline had clearly added a business card or labeled it with the owner's
name, address and phone number then maybe that would have shown how honest
someone would be to return it. But I don't see how finding lost property in
itself and failing to return it is a theft.

[Evan @ Aug 3rd 2007 12:13AM]

You can't just take people's purses because they left them sitting around, even if their ID isn't in there. Lost property isn't free for the taking. In many places you can report it to the police and if no one claims it you can get it after 30 days. That is the right thing to do and you can still get a reward out of it.

Just because you will probably never get caught for taking stuff like that never makes it ok, unless of course you have a flexible conscience. Even then, it still isn't legal. Finding money may be different, but if the sum gets high enough you may be compelled by the law to turn that in as well.

[steve miller @ Aug 3rd 2007 12:55AM]

My comment is about taking something that was abandoned is not the same as theft. Theft is a deliberate taking of someone else's property. Finding abandoned property and keeping it is not the same. Of course it is always best to try to return something found to it's rightful owner but that is not always possible. Dateline implied that finding and keeping was the same as theft. I don't believe that is the case and it was wrong for Dateline to set people up and then call them thieves for playing finders keepers. If Dateline had placed a sleeping person on a park bench with an ipod on their lap and video taped someone taking advantage and stealing the ipod from them then that would have been theft and a legit undercover sting. Not the way they did it by leaving ipods abandoned in public areas.

[barefootpanda @ Aug 2nd 2007 11:29PM]

I'm surprised that no one has mentioned entrapment. From my criminal justice class it is when the crime is just too tempting. Taking $10 from a guy sleeping on the bus...not entrapment. Taking $300 from a dude sleeping on the bus...now you have a case. Let's see...taking a $250 device that is unattended....ENTRAPMENT!

[Evan @ Aug 3rd 2007 12:33AM]

I don't think that is entrapment at all. You have to be literally compelled to do something by the actions of police, investigators, etc. Crimes of opportunity usually do not have someone compelling them to commit the crime. Arguing that someone's lack of security in fact makes them deserve the crime usually cannot hold up very well in court. Even more ridiculous would be the argument that the victim in fact compelled you to steal their item because they misplaced it. There is no pressure exerted on someone who steals an unattended item, they have complete free will in making the decision. No one told them to take it.

The bus argument makes no sense. Are you saying that you are compelled by the victim to steal a large amount of money because the victim was defenseless by sleeping? You *can't* use entrapment as a defense if you compel yourself to take the money because it would be easy; or that you would likely not be caught. In court, you would have been better off stealing the 10 bucks than the 300, and an entrapment defense would never work in that situation.

Entrapment deals much more with sting operations and such where investigators attempt to pressure individuals into committing a crime they otherwise wouldn't have. This would be like Chris Hanson standing with an iPod on the street telling people to take and then accuse them of theft.

[Mike @ Aug 3rd 2007 1:22PM]

Clearly you've never seen stings where the police leave a car sitting in a high crime area with a kill switch and internal cameras waiting for someone to steal it. When its stolen, they kill the engine and take the thief off to jail.

Happens all the time... and there's TV shows about it.

[Xee @ Aug 3rd 2007 2:28PM]

"Entrapment" may not be the correct word but I have to agree that leaving an item of value in plain sight in a car would get you ticket. My mom once went to a nature preserve early in the morning to take some sunrise pictures. When she walked back to her car later in the morning she saw a cop standing next to it writing a ticket. Apparently she had left her purse on the front seat and the cop said that by doing so she was inviting people to break into her car. Not sure what "people" he was referring to though since it was on a Saturday morning and there were only two other cars parked in the parking lot.

[Him @ Aug 7th 2007 4:54PM]

I agree. I lost my 5th gen black I pod at my work.
It was inscribed and sitting next to my soundboard (I am a soundguy). Some poor Schlob took it while i was at the stage, now that is stealing.
If date line had had the ipods inscribed, I think it might be a little diferent story.

Either way people suck if they are that opportunistic.

[Robert @ Aug 2nd 2007 11:29PM]

My problem is the install Cd's. They deliberately set it to give dateline your information. They should add a line...even a short one at the end saying that your information is going to a third party. Otherwise, someone could sue for First Amendment rights (Invasion Of Privacy).

But the theft... Its a gray area open for interpretation.

[Scarpad @ Aug 2nd 2007 11:48PM]

I'm Glad to see NBC is still really covering all the "Hard News"

[Kenban @ Aug 2nd 2007 11:45PM]

According to the transcript which was linked they said "To get our bait iPods to work, whoever takes them will have to install a disc. What they won't know is that when they click 'I Agree' on a licensing agreement that appears on-screen, they'll be consenting to provide some of the same kind of information they provide Apple to Dateline."

So there was an EULA that popped up on screen during the install in which the people did agree to provide the data to Dateline. Since no one ever reads the agreements I doubt anyone would even notice. Although if you know iPods you should realize its been a long time since they provided an install CD.

[Robert @ Aug 2nd 2007 11:49PM]

Ya...

I was wondering about that. What was the last iPod without a CD? 5th Gen or 1st Gen Nano .