“Smooth-Talking” Thief Swiping iPads From Bay Area Offices

If your iPad is missing, beware -- you may have encountered "the Cubicle Con."

A thief is using smooth words to talk his way past security and into Bay Area offices, where he's stealing iPads, iPhones and other electronic devices, according to the San Francisco Examiner.

For weeks, electronic devices have been reported stolen from offices, sometimes right from under workers' noses. Police now believe that some of the thefts reported in Daly City, San Francisco, Petaluma, Pleasanton and Los Altos "might be related."

A suspect was "nearly caught' on Tuesday in San Mateo by employees who recognized his style -- he enters a business, he chats up employees, and earns their trust, according to police.

He received a tour of a dentist's office in Daly City, and in other situations, he has managed to occupy workers' time for up to an hour with "tall stories," the newspaper reported.

He's "described as a white man in his mid- to late 30s, 6-foot-2 to 6-4 and with shaggy brown hair."