FLAGLER COUNTY, Fla. — The iPhone is all the rage, but a young Central Florida woman allegedly stole thousands of dollars by hawking fake iPhones on the Internet. Detectives said the rip-offs didn't stop there; Mary Losito, 23, would use customers' credit cards to fund her business.
Friday, investigators showed WFTV what she was trying to sell.
"Apple and AT&T were able to tell investigators within seconds that these weren't real. The phones actually weight a little bit too much. The box they came in is not quite the right size. The accessories are just a little bit off, and even the instructions are printed in Chinese," said David O'Brien, Flagler Co. Sheriff's Office.
Because the knock-off iPhones were being sold on the Internet, victims in Florida, New York, Arkansas and even Germany didn't know the phones weren't real until they got them in the mail.
Losito sold them on "keepingcooldeals.com" for at least a year, investigators said. Their victim count is at 50 and growing.
"Once they received them, they realized. Or, if they didn't receive them, which is what happened in some of these cases, that's how we got involved," O'Brien said.
Investigators shut the home-based business down this week, after learning Losito was about to move out of town. She lived with her boyfriend at the home.
A man there Friday didn't want to answer WFTV's questions.
"Are you serious?" the man at the home told WFTV reporter Jason Allen.
"Yes, I'm serious. Is there anything you can tell us about her or how long she was running the business?" Allen asked.
Investigators said Losito's Chinese knock-off iPhones weren't the only way she was stealing. She also hired work-from-home employees to sell the phones, they said. She would collect the payments, but they said she would never deliver the merchandise.
Investigators said Losito also used her customers' information to open credit card and bank accounts.
"She even opens up an account in her mother's name, as well, and starts putting money into that account, as well," O'Brien said.
Before Losito gets out of jail she will have to prove the $30,000 she needs for bail is clean money. She has no criminal record, but investigators believe she may have started the crime years ago when she lived in New York.
WFTV
