Decade-Long iPhone Swap Fraud by Chinese Suspects

TapTechNews June 2nd. Recently, a decade-long mobile phone swap fraud surfaced, and five suspects were accused of defrauding Apple by swapping counterfeit Apple devices for genuine replacements, causing heavy losses to Apple.据悉, these five suspects are Chinese citizens.

It is reported that the modus operandi of this gang is not complicated. They took the purchased fake iPhones or other Apple products to Apple retail stores, claiming that the devices were faulty and asking for free replacements. Because some counterfeit iPhones even have serial numbers similar to genuine ones, it is difficult for retail store employees to distinguish the authenticity, resulting in them swapping the counterfeits for genuine models. These scammers then sold the replaced genuine Apple devices at high prices to make a huge profit.

Surprisingly, this kind of 'ubstituting the false for the true' trick has been played more than 16,000 times in a decade, causing Apple to lose more than 12.3 million US dollars (TapTechNews note: currently about 89.298 million yuan). In addition to iPhone mobile phones, the involved products also include various Apple devices such as Apple Watch and iPad.

Court documents show that these scammer gangs cooperated with some organizations in China to obtain a large number of counterfeit Apple devices. The fake iPhones they used even had counterfeit serial numbers that could pass Apple's system verification, thereby deceiving retail store employees. Even more seriously, due to the theft of the serial number, the real owners may not be able to enjoy after-sales service and repair guarantee.

In order to avoid being traced, the suspects often changed the Apple retail stores where they committed the crime, and provided false information during the phone replacement process, including addresses and names. At present, the case is still under trial. If convicted, the suspects will face up to several years in prison.