On Monday night on June 16th, thieves broke into a Miami-based retailer of satellite phones and marine electronics and made off with over $300,000 worth of equipment.
The thieves were able to break into the store without setting off an alarm because they quite literally broke a hole in the wall and climbed through.
The thieves spend over 3 hours in the store methodically searching through inventory and equipment, apparently corresponding with an outsider via cellphone the whole time.
You can see video coverage of the break-in and analysis of the theft from NBC Miami here.
It's pretty safe to guess that the market may soon be flooded with cheap, new satellite phones. While it's always a good idea to be cautious if a deal seems "too good to be true" it's especially important in this case.
Satellite carriers will work with this retailer to completely block those satellite phones and equipment from working at all.
Because each piece of equipment has a unique identifier that associates it back through the supply chain and is identifiable by the satellite companies when airtime is activated for the equipment, customers may end up with a completely locked satellite phone. If this happens, the satellite phone is useless for anything more than keeping your papers from blowing away in the breeze.
It's also highly unlikely that customers will be able to get their money back on a fraudulent transaction as thieves are notoriously good as disappearing into thin air as soon as a customer disputes a transaction.
Conclusion? Do research before purchasing a phone that seems to good to be true. (And check out GMN's phone savings bundles for savings you can count on).