[ad_1]
Accessories made by Apple aren’t exactly cheap, but there are several third-party manufacturers that offer great products at more affordable prices. However, there is also a whole counterfeit aftermarket, and Apple is now doing its best to eliminate these products.
According to a new report from Bloomberg, Apple is aware that there are several vendors that use platforms such as Facebook and Instagram to sell counterfeit Apple-branded accessories. The most popular are Chinese copies of products like AirPods, Lightning cables, iPhone batteries, and power adapters.
While these accessories may seem attractive to customers, costing up to 10 times less than those sold by Apple, counterfeit products can put the user at risk. This is what recently happened to Andrea Stroppa, a cybersecurity researcher. Stroppa borrowed an iPhone charger from a friend, but then the unexpected happened: the charger exploded while connected to power. Of course, it was a fake charger.
Stories like the one told by Stroppa are far from uncommon when it comes to accessories purchased online through unfamiliar websites. The report notes that the counterfeit accessories business costs millions of dollars in the United States and Europe. While Facebook says that selling counterfeit products on its social media violates company policies, the researchers argue that Facebook does not ban these sellers.
“Our study aims to expose the difficulties or unwillingness of Instagram to adequately address its long-standing counterfeit market and also to highlight the many dangers of this type of illicit business for Apple and consumers alike,” said the researchers. Facebook is “guilty of failing to adequately invest and protect US companies and citizens around the world who use its platform.”
A Ghost Data Team investigation obtained by Bloomberg oversaw 163 counterfeit Apple accessory sellers on Instagram in the past month. The best-selling product from these sellers was AirPods Pro replicas, followed by MagSafe chargers. While these products cost $ 249 and $ 39 respectively at Apple, a store on Instagram was selling the counterfeit versions for $ 25 and $ 5.50.
The Instagram accounts in the study posted 50,000 sales posts in the last year, which garnered about 600,000 likes and comments. The report includes invoices posted by vendors of counterfeit merchandise, including a vendor who raised $ 140,000 in a single day from online sales through his personal HSBC bank account, Ghost Data reports.
Not everyone knows they are buying a counterfeit product or understands the risks of doing so. An Apple spokesperson said Bloomberg that the company is concerned about the risk that these accessories could bring to users. The company confirmed that it has a team dedicated to identifying and removing these sellers and e-commerce sites around the world that sell counterfeit Apple accessories.
“We have a dedicated team of experts constantly working with law enforcement, merchants, social media companies and e-commerce sites around the world to remove counterfeit products from the market. In the last year, we have sought the removal of more than 1 million counterfeit and counterfeit Apple product listings from online marketplaces, including Facebook and Instagram. “
The full report can be found at From Bloomberg websit, and it’s definitely worth reading.
FTC: We use income generating automobile affiliate links. Plus.
Check out 9to5Mac on YouTube for more news from Apple:
