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Apple scams are as common as they are ingenious. We have already seen since Completely fake Apple stores in China even elaborate deception plans to telephone companies. But the story we are dealing with 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 seemed like just another import business turned into one of the most sophisticated scams that Apple has suffered in recent years. Haotian Sun, 34, of Baltimore, with his partner Pengfei Xue, also 34, of Germantown, Maryland, They started renting multiple mailboxes from UPS throughout the Washington DC metropolitan area
Packages from Hong Kong regularly arrived in these mailboxes. Its contents: almost perfect replicas of iPhones. These fake devices were manufactured with such precision that could fool even Apple technicians at a glance. But the real genius of the scam went beyond the quality of the fakes.
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 devicesmatching them to those of real iPhones in circulation. With this altered documentation, they were presented at different Apple Stores in the area, including the emblematic Georgetown store.
His story was always the same: “My iPhone is not working properly”. Following Apple’s customer service policy, which in many cases opts to replace defective devices, scammers managed to exchange their replicas for new original iPhones.
Apple Georgetown, one of the places most frequented by scammers
A million-dollar business that lasted two years
Between May 2017 and September 2019, the operation ran like Swiss clockwork. The researchers estimate that during this period, Sun and Xue came to present more than 6,000 fake iPhones for replacement. The magnitude of the scam is overwhelming: for every fake device that cost a fraction of the original price, they got a new iPhone worth hundreds of dollars.
The scheme was so effective that it caused losses to Apple worth more than 2.5 million dollars. Investigators estimate that if they had not been stopped, the potential damage could have reached 3.8 million.
They were discovered and now they will have to serve a prison sentence
In December 2019, the authorities finally they put an end to 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 network of mailboxes and the sophisticated counterfeiting system.
After more than four years since his arrest, the case has reached its conclusion. After a trial that lasted three and a half days, the District of Columbia found both scammers guilty of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and mail fraud. Now, the judge has issued a sentence:
- Sun will serve 57 months in prison and will have to return $1,072,000
- While Xue has been sentenced to 54 months and must pay $397,800
- In addition, after completing their sentences they will be subject to three years of supervised freedom.
The original iPhones they obtained were then sold on the second-hand market. Both on online sales platforms and in-person meetings. This story helps us remember that You have to be very careful when buying products second hand.
The safest thing is always to get your new iPhone at the Apple Store, or trusted authorized distributors such as MediaMarkt, Amazon and specialized chains such as K-tuin or Rossellimac. Even if you are looking for something cheaper you can buy second hand refurbished devices on the web like BackMarket. Not only do you ensure that you get an original product, but also all the support and guarantee that Apple or these stores offer.
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