Apple scams are as common as they are ingenious. We’ve already seen everything from completely fake Apple stores in China to elaborate schemes to fool phone companies. But the story we’re talking about today seems like something out of a movie. Two Citizens of Chinese origin managed to defraud Apple of millions of dollars with a plan as simple as it is effective: exchange fake iPhones for original units.
A plan that started with mailboxes
What appeared to be just another import activity turned into one of the most sophisticated scams Apple has fallen victim to in recent years. Haotian Sun, 34, of Baltimore, with his partner Pengfei Xue, also 34, of Germantown, Maryland, They started renting several mailboxes from UPS throughout the Washington DC metropolitan area
Parcels from Hong Kong regularly arrived in these mailboxes. Its contents: almost perfect iPhone replicas. These the fake devices were made with such precision it could fool even Apple technicians at a glance. But the real genius of the scam went beyond the quality of the counterfeits.
The key to deception: manipulated serial numbers and IMEI
Every original iPhone has two unique identifiers: a serial number and an IMEI code. Sun and Xue had found a way to manipulate these numbers on your fake devicesby matching them to those of real iPhones in circulation. With this modified documentation, they were featured at various Apple Stores in the region, including the iconic Georgetown store.
His story was always the same: “My iPhone is not working properly”. In accordance with Apple’s customer service policy, which in many cases chooses to replace defective devices, scammers have managed to exchange their replicas for new original iPhones.
Apple Georgetown, one of the most frequented places for scammers
A million-dollar deal that lasted two years
Between May 2017 and September 2019, the operation went like clockwork. Researchers believe that during this period, Sun and Xue came to present more than 6,000 fake iPhones to replace. The scale of the scam is overwhelming: for each fake device costing a fraction of the original price, they get a new iPhone worth hundreds of dollars.
The system was so effective that it caused losses for Apple worth more than $2.5 million. Investigators estimate that if they had not been arrested, the potential damage could have reached 3.8 million.
They were discovered and will now have to serve a prison sentence
In December 2019, the authorities finally they shut down the elaborate scam. The investigation was conducted by the Washington Division of the United States Postal Inspection Service and the Office of Homeland Security Investigations. These two institutions uncovered the entire mailbox network and the sophisticated counterfeiting system.
More than four years after his arrest, the case has come to an end. After a trial that lasted three and a half days, the District of Columbia declared the two crooks guilty of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and mail fraud. Now the judge has pronounced a sentence:
- Sun will serve 57 months in prison and will have to repay $1,072,000
- While Xue was sentenced to 54 months and must pay $397,800
- Additionally, after serving their sentence, they will be subject to three years of supervised release.
The original iPhones obtained were then sold on the second-hand market. Both on online sales platforms and during in-person meetings. This story helps us remember that You have to be very careful when purchasing products second hand.
The safest is always to buy your new iPhone in the Apple Store or from trusted authorized distributors such as MediaMarkt, Amazon and specialized channels such as K-tuin or Rossellimac. Even if you’re looking for something cheaper, you can buy second-hand refurbished devices on the web like BackMarket. Not only do you ensure that you are getting an original product, but also all the support and warranty that Apple or these stores offer.
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