We're a bit frightened by the fact that high-ranking political officials are told to leave their BlackBerrys outside in an unguarded basket during high-level meetings (really, it's "common practice"), but nevertheless, one chap who tried to take advantage of the situation didn't quite make it out undiscovered. During a recent political meetup in New Orleans, a Mexican press attaché managed to slip a half dozen or so BlackBerrys into his pocket before darting to the airport with visions of black market markups in his head. Before he could exit the country, however, Secret Service had tracked him down after catching him via surveillance footage. As it stands, the responsible individual has been fired from his post, but there's been no word on whether the US will take any further actions. Reevaluating the whole "leaving them out in the open" practice may be a good start -- just sayin'.

[Via The Boy Genius Report]

Apple's no stranger to having its wares ganked (a lot), but this one really has us scratching our noggins some kind of fierce. Apparently a couple of meddlesome 20-somethings working at a Salem, New Hampshire Apple store managed to scoot away with somewhere between 330 and 700 iPhones. After somehow stuffing that many handsets into a panel van / pickup truck / privately owned C-130, they seemingly sweet talked a single high-roller into snatching up their entire stash for upwards of $138,000 -- which could be a bargain (or not) depending on the actual quantity included in the deal, internal capacity, etc. Minutiae aside, both individuals are currently residing under the strong arm of the law (surveillance cameras are hard to dodge), but curiously, nothing is mentioned about the buyer who didn't find spending over a hundred large with a couple of average joes (who just happened to have an inordinately large amount of iPhones for sale) the least bit odd.

[Thanks, Scott]

Stealing £3 million ($5.94 million) worth of mobile phones sure sounds like a risky way to may a buck, but if you're going to jack mobile handsets, you might as well swipe the ones that depreciate the least, eh? A crew of four men in Europe apparently agreed with that mantra, as they got up the nerve to run a Vertu van off the road with their Subaru and reportedly swiped a fair amount of handsets before darting off. There was no word on just how many phones were actually stolen, but we're sure the boys in blue found a fully stocked trunk after it located the crashed vehicle in Slough, Banks. Two of the four masked bandits were later captured and arrested for their part in the heist, but the other duo is probably trying to figure out how in the world they would unload hordes of these highly sought after mobiles without garnering suspicion in the first place.

[Via BGR]

In the latest edition of the 2007 Darwin Awards, it seems that a Russian man looks to be facing up to four years in prison for stealing a cellphone. Pretty harsh, eh? There's more -- the man stole the cellphone from a court judge where he has just been exonerated of... wait for it... stealing a cellphone. Perhaps this guy has a cellphone stealing fetish or something? Anyway, after a possible four years in a Russian prison, the smart money says he'll be changing his tune. At least this guy had compensated his earlier cellphone victim (she dropped the charges against him), but we doubt the judge whose phone was snatched will be as nice.

[Via Fark]

In this day and age, having someone steal your purse or wallet is a common occurrence especially in larger cities. It's not that common, though, to have someone steal your bag filled with credit cards, lots of cash, and your cellphone, only to have all of it returned it to you. That's what happened to Pan Aiying, a school teacher from the province of Shandong in China. Her bag was stolen from her while she was riding a bicycle home from work. She borrowed a friends phone to call her own only to have the call unanswered. In a desperate situation, she decided to text the thief thinking she might appeal to his morals. The text read, "Keep the 4,900 yuan ($630) if you really need it, but please return the other things to me." 21 text messages later and still no response from him until the next day when the bag appeared in her courtyard. Everything was still in the bag when she opened it. OK everyone, all at the same time now: "Awwwww!"

[Via Fark]

Sure, time is money, and nobody has time to wait around to make a phone call, but two parents in Lone Grove, Oklahoma are exemplifying the bounds of being impatient by filing larceny charges against a high school principal and superintendent. Based on an estranged rule that we seriously hope isn't widespread, students are not allowed to have any sort of "wireless telecommunications device" on their person during school hours, and when a cavalier student's mobile rang in the midst of class, it got snatched -- for five days. Based on the "school handbook," officials have the right to confiscate cellphones for a full business week if a student dares to bring one on campus, and reports explain that the superintendent has no inkling to return the device a moment too early. While we can understand how hopeless the poor child must feel without his connection to, well, everything, we're hoping the charges lead to fewer restrictions at Lone Grove High School (and beyond) for everyone's sake, right kids?

[Via Fark]

What better deterrent to breaking into T-Mobile's customer database, than a year of being forced to sit at home with nothing to do but screw around on the 'puter? We can't imagine, and apparently neither could U.S. District Judge George King, sentencing 23 year old Nicholas Lee Jacobsen to a whopping 365 days of home detention for the 2004 crime in which several hundred names and Social Security numbers were swiped (not to mention the Sidekick contents of a Secret Service agent, of all people). To be fair, the hoodlum was also ordered to pay T-Mobile ten grand -- and we have to believe the feds are doing what they can to keep Mr. Jacobsen away from technology for the time being -- but we wouldn't have minded seeing some hard time involved.

Ring any bells? It seems everyone's favorite Herbie Fully Loaded actress has gone and gotten her Blackberry compromised this week, which was then used to send her pals "disgusting and very mean messages." Lohan's spokesperson assures us that the messages weren't sent by Lindsay herself (whew), so if you've gotten a text from her recently telling you to buzz off, rest assured, she still loves ya. Furthermore, she's suggesting that the culprit might be one Paris Hilton, herself a victim of trendy device theft not long ago -- we think the lesson to be learned here is that mobile devices with full keypads are best kept out of celebs' hands.

[Thanks, Jimmie Geddes]