hen Wilson Lee, 35, was arrested last October in San Francisco on 53 felony counts of fraud, forgery and other charges related to the theft of over 500 credit card numbers in a sting operation, the San Francisco Police Department (SFPD) was not surprised that the suspect had been living for months in first-class hotels using stolen identities and credit card data, or that several people were obviously involved.

What surprised them was the chance discovery that some of the stolen identity data were found loaded onto an iPod.

"The problem with iPods and other MP3 players is that you see them as just a way to listen to music, and you forget that what they really are is a mass storage device," said Lt. Kenwade Lee (no relation to the suspect), who runs the fraud division at the SFPD.

"MP3 players create a whole new challenge for law enforcement. It's a lot easier to walk around with an iPod than a case full of papers. Companies that deal with sensitive financial data should probably ban MP3 players in the office; all it takes is a USB port, and you can load a whole lot of data on an iPod."

Lee was arrested when he signed for a laptop computer paid for with stolen credit card information and delivered by an undercover officer. Pretrial hearings have been held in San Francisco.

According to Lt. Lee, the evidence against Lee is overwhelming, and he could potentially serve 15 years, although a plea bargain could be possible. He said the evidence is clear that other people were involved in these crimes, but no others have been yet arrested or identified by the suspect.

'Pod slurping'

"Sometimes you have to think outside the box to catch these guys," Lt. Lee said. "I had read about 'Pod Slurping,' basically software designed to download a lot of data onto an iPod quickly. It wasn't designed for criminal purposes, but it shows what can be done.

"Crooks are getting smarter and more technical. They're online, reading blogs, learning how to use technology in ways that wasn't intended, so we have to, too, just to keep up."

This is the first time the SFPD has encountered the use of an iPod to transport stolen data. In the future, the department will get a search warrant whenever an MP3 player is linked to a crime of this sort.