Apple Scammed With Fake iPhones in the Name of Repair

For many, the iPhone is not just a smartphone but a whole new experience that eases up their daily lives. These gadgets sometimes become a status symbol and due to their exorbitant prices, they attract the attention of the scammers. We have heard of personal or bank account information being stolen, but have you ever heard of iPhone scams? If not, you must be alert as they are real and scammers are targeting the company by defrauding them with fake ones. These scams not only result in financial loss but also destroy Apple's robust reputation in the market. People are now skeptical about whether or not iPhones distributed by Apple are real or duplicates. Let's dive deeper into the scam story that shocked Apple.

How scammers lured Apple into the deceptive scheme

This is not the first time Apple has become a victim of the scams. These scammers, who are probably living in Maryland but are originally from China, formulated a fraudulent scheme involving the exchange of fake handsets with real ones. To put it simply, the scammers defrauded Apple by handing them fake iPhones in the name of repair and took away the brand new ones. The straightforward motive behind this was to cause a huge financial loss for the company by making it look untrustworthy in the market. They continued this practice for over two and half years and exchanged almost 5,000 handsets, giving Apple a money strain of over $3 million.

The U.S. Attorney made a press release on the announcement stating "Haotian Sun, 33, and Pengfei Xue, 33, both Chinese nationals, were found guilty today by a federal jury for participating in a sophisticated scheme to defraud Apple out of millions of dollars worth of iPhones. The scheme started when they received a fake phone from Hong Kong which they submitted along with hoax IMEI numbers to the Apple Store and service providers in Georgetown. To avoid being caught, they operated with false names but were finally arrested on December 5, 2019. The sentencing decisions which are yet to be made will start on June 21, 2024.

Not just scammers, but employees are also defrauding

Apple was in the news for incurring losses from scams as well as its employees who attempted to defraud the company. An employee named Prasad who worked in Apple's global service supply chain was accused of stealing products from Apple and other related charges in March 2022 to which he was guilty. He was then announced with three years imprisonment for the fraud and will be paying Apple the full and final amount once he gets back from jail. He has to return the money as well as the assets, devices, and other things he stole from the company.

Prasad's job was to purchase device parts for the company so that the old phones and devices could be fixed. He signed a fraudulent monetary deal with two of the vendors and never delivered the products to Apple as he stole them. Additionally, he made fake invoices, and illegal payments, stole parts, and also indulged himself in not paying taxes on this money. Moreover, leveraging his position, he also used the company's insider information to ensure that he was safe from illegal activities.