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Police Seize Over $89,000 in Counterfeit Apple Products at Maryland Mall

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Apr 12, 2001
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Maryland State Police have announced that they seized hundreds of counterfeit Apple products from two stores at Arundel Mills Mall, a popular shopping center in the area, reports WBAL-TV 11. Specifically, the counterfeit items were worth over $89,000 and included multi-color counterfeit iPhones and iPads, iPad replacement screens made of faulty material, various accessories for products, as well as packaging materials and equipment used to design and print fake packaging for the fraudulent items being sold.

The items recovered included iPhones and the colored fronts and backings that go with them, cellphone conversion kits, iPhone and iPad covers, Apple product ID stickers, iPad replacement screens and various internal iPhone parts. Detectives also found packaging materials, equipment used to design and print those materials and computer equipment believed to be used to clone phones.
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The investigation of the merchants selling the items began seven months ago after authorities were contacted about the potential counterfeit products. The officials also contacted Apple experts on the matter after buying products from both locations. No arrests have yet been made in the case.

Article Link: Police Seize Over $89,000 in Counterfeit Apple Products at Maryland Mall
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2013/08/30/police-seize-over-89000-in-counterfeit-apple-products-at-maryland-mall/
BJMRamage

BJMRamage

macrumors 68030
Oct 2, 2007
2,713
1,233
Saw this on the news this morning...or last night.

Wife and I figure this isn't a Best Buy Mobile/Radio Shack/ATT/Verizon type store but a Kiosk or something selling cell phone stuff.

They never mentioned the stores but guess they are still tracking people in on it. And that mall has a lot of foot traffic...and people carrying luggage as it is somewhat close to an airport. Oh and there's a new Casino attached so perhaps those that "win big" feel like getting "Apple" stuff fairly cheap. haha



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Michaelgtrusa said:
One can guess where it's made.
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next door to the real ones, I'd guess :D
 
mrat93

mrat93

macrumors 68020
Dec 30, 2006
2,255
2,942
Do people actually think cheetah print iPhone back covers with the Apple logo on it are authentic?
 
blackburn

blackburn

macrumors 6502a
Feb 16, 2010
974
0
Where Judas lost it's boots.
I know a lot of those cell phone accessory shops that sell fake apple parts (blackberry/nokia/samsung and more). All of them are shady so you notice pretty much on entrance, that they are selling fake "oem" stuff.

But many people go there to get their battery changed or their display replaced, since most of the times an official replacement is almost the value of the phone. Now apple has lowered their prices, but in 2011 the broken iPad 2 glass would cost 400€ to be replaced by apple, now it's about 250€. And those guys do it for 100/150€.
 
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B

boogybren

macrumors newbie
Mar 26, 2009
8
12
It looks to me like they have the real devices but are using "cheap" replacement back/front panels. They never showed the devices turned on so you don't know if it is really iOS on there or some Chinese OS.

When I had a 4S, I bought these replacement back plates all the time off eBay.
 
Appl3FTW

Appl3FTW

macrumors 603
Nov 15, 2012
5,552
1,252
those are all aftermarket stuff, backplate etc. ... the owners probably didn't know you can't sell aftermarket apple items. LOL.

btw: i know where that is.. that's like 30 mins away from me.. i feel special LULZ :D
 
CrickettGrrrl

CrickettGrrrl

macrumors 6502a
Feb 10, 2012
985
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B'more or Less
BJMRamage said:
Saw this on the news this morning...or last night.

Wife and I figure this isn't a Best Buy Mobile/Radio Shack/ATT/Verizon type store but a Kiosk or something selling cell phone stuff.

They never mentioned the stores but guess they are still tracking people in on it. And that mall has a lot of foot traffic...and people carrying luggage as it is somewhat close to an airport. Oh and there's a new Casino attached so perhaps those that "win big" feel like getting "Apple" stuff fairly cheap. haha



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next door to the real ones, I'd guess :D
Click to expand...

According to WBAL News: "Officers said they raided the Cyberion store and the ST Tech Pros kiosk last Friday and recovered hundreds of fake Apple products that were being sold as authentic factory replacements."
One is a cell phone repair shop.

Appl3FTW said:
btw: i know where that is.. that's like 30 mins away from me.. i feel special LULZ :D
Click to expand...

When I read the Arundel Mills headline last night I fervently hoped the police raided Cordish & Maryland Live! casino... Disappointed. :(
 
R

RedCroissant

Suspended
Aug 13, 2011
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Appl3FTW said:
those are all aftermarket stuff, backplate etc. ... the owners probably didn't know you can't sell aftermarket apple items. LOL.

btw: i know where that is.. that's like 30 mins away from me.. i feel special LULZ :D
Click to expand...

I lived in Severn about 4 years ago and went to that mall all the time. It's strange seeing it in news coverage.
 
M

Makosuke

macrumors 604
Aug 15, 2001
6,661
1,242
The Cool Part of CA, USA
Appl3FTW said:
those are all aftermarket stuff, backplate etc. ... the owners probably didn't know you can't sell aftermarket apple items. LOL.
Click to expand...

From the story:

...multi-color counterfeit iPhones and iPads, iPad replacement screens made of faulty material [...] various internal iPhone parts
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It does sound like there were a lot of fake "Apple" accessories included, but if that's accurate there was definitely counterfeit actual electronic hardware as well.

I'd think you'd be hard pressed to even fit $89,000 worth of counterfeit "Apple" leopard-print iPhone backs in a mall store.
 
Giuly

Giuly

macrumors 68040
Oct 16, 2009
3,348
4
That depends whether you ask for timezone, state o
First of all, if you're jailbreaking your own phone, chances are that you walk away with a basic knowledge of Property Lists and the bash, so that's kinda semi-ok. Jailbreaking as a paid service in a mall on the other hand: Not at all.

However, all I saw were iPhones that had their back and front glass replaced with colored ones – I wouldn't call that a "Fake iPhone". This is a fake iPhone:
iphone-gas-stove.jpg

In case you can't tell the difference: The fake one has a dial, while the genuine iPhone has a touchscreen.

And seizing third-party 30-pin to USB cables is a bit over the top, as you'd have to raid every store that sells anything electronics related to get them. I was however pretty annoyed when I had to visit four different, big chain stores to find a genuine Apple Lightning-to-Dock adapter, so there's definitively something wrong.
 
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jmh600cbr

jmh600cbr

macrumors 65816
Feb 14, 2012
1,031
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Lol this is news? Every kiosk in Canada has the fake replacement backs and screens with the logo and eBay is about the best place to get this stuff. This cop sounds so shocked like its a new concept
 
hakr100

hakr100

macrumors 6502a
Mar 1, 2011
967
113
East Coast
Hot Damn! Wait until I get my latest model iPrinter 3D printing machine...

My first product will be a full scale working model of Scarlett Johansson, following by an exact copy of the iPhone 7, the one with the screen you can see outdoors in daylight.
 
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