99 Percent of Fake Apple Chargers Sold Online Fail Safety Tests

[MacRumors]

New research conducted by a global independent safety firm has revealed that 99 percent of fake Apple chargers sold online fail a basic safety test (via BBC).

The tests were commissioned by the U.K.'s Trading Standards and undertaken by Illinois-based global safety specialists UL. The insulation tests applied a high voltage to the chargers, which were bought online from eight different countries, including the U.S., China, and Australia.

According to the results, only three out of 400 counterfeit chargers were found to have adequate insulation to ensure protection against electric shocks. Leon Livermore, the chief executive of Chartered Trading Standards Institute, described the counterfeit chargers sold online as an "unknown entity" and urged shoppers to buy electrical goods only from trusted suppliers.

"It might cost a few pounds more, but counterfeit and second-hand goods are an unknown entity that could cost you your home or even your life, or the life of a loved-one," he said.

Earlier this week, Amazon acknowledged a worsening counterfeit problem on its site and said it had made fighting the fake products a "major goal" going forward. The announcement followed a lawsuit filed by Apple last month against a company it accused of selling fake power adapters and cables on Amazon. Apple conducted its own tests and said it found that almost 90 percent of so-called genuine Apple products and accessories it had purchased from Amazon over the last nine months were actually counterfeit.

"Counterfeit electrical goods are likely to be poor quality and in the worst cases unsafe," said Gillian Guy, chief executive of the U.K.'s Citizens Advice. "Look out for tell-tale signs of counterfeiting such as mistakes in brand names or logos, and check plugs for safety marks - all genuine electrical items made in the EU should have a CE mark on them."

Trading Standards included guidelines in its press release to help consumers in the EU spot a fake charger, advising them to check pin size, look for regulation markings, warnings and instructions. In addition, Citizens Advice urged consumers not to overcharge appliances and to never cover devices when charging or use a charger with a cracked case or frayed cable.

Article Link: 99 Percent of Fake Apple Chargers Sold Online Fail Safety Tests

 

[steve62388]

Well I guess that puts to bed any thought of buying an 'Apple' charger from anywhere but Apple directly. (As opposed to a different reputable brand).

 

[44267547]

Which is why I will pay the premium from Apple and have piece of mind for safety related reasons.

 

[Jsameds]

I had the misfortune to happen upon one of these once. It blew up charging my iPod with a huge bang and such force it flew out of the wall socket and across the room. When I inspected it afterwards, the case blew apart and the insides were scorched black. The iPod survived.

I now purchase all my chargers from Apple.com. Yes it's bit of extra cash but it's a small price to pay to not have your house burn down.

 

[Kajje]

Which is why I will pay the premium from Apple and have piece of mind for safety related reasons.

Only if you buy them directly at the Apple store you can be sure they indeed are real.
I have seen a lot of fake Apple chargers and forgeries are getting more difficult to spot.

A couple months ago I bought 15 Lightning cables for $10. They're so well built I had to mark my original cables with a permanent marker. Having bought tons of fake cables over the last years I thought I knew how to spot a fake one. Well, with these ones it is just impossible. They're working great though.

 

[barnesy99]

Why I always buy from Apple. I'd prefer to briefly hurt my wallet than risk hurting myself or anyone else....

 

[44267547]

Only if you buy them directly at the Apple store you can be sure they indeed are real.
I have seen a lot of fake Apple chargers and forgeries are getting more difficult to spot.

A couple months ago I bought 15 Lightning cables for $10. They're so well built I had to mark my original cables with a permanent marker. Having bought tons of fake cables over the last years I thought I knew how to spot a fake one. Well, with these ones it is just impossible. They're working great though.

Which is I why I will only purchase from Apple.

 

[Theophany]

For USB wall chargers, why pay the premium for Apple? I've bought tons of third party USB wall chargers from reputable companies and they cost a couple of quid. Sure, they don't look anything like the real Apple ones, but who cares?

I totally get it when it comes to buying MacBook chargers as they are proprietary and there's no way I'm going to risk frying a £2,000 laptop for the sake of saving a few quid on a charger, but for the plugs to charge your iPads, iPhones and iPods any old USB wall plug will do.

 

[brunozs]

"... that could cost you your home or even your life, or the life of a loved-one," he said.


WTF.

Slow down, buddy.

 

[Porco]

Shocking.

That's a serious charge, but I have to agree.

Surely there should be a happy medium where everyone can buy a safe, properly insulated chargers without being price-gouged by Apple?

It would be nice if Apple took the lead (ahem) on this and said 'you know what, people dying or losing their homes because a power adapter they bought in good faith is a ridiculous situation, we are going to sell all our power adapters at cost price, because it's just too important, and if you're not dead, you're approximately 99% more likely to buy an Apple product again than if you are dead, so it's a win for us too'.

A 5W USB power Adapter in the UK, from Apple, costs £19. Come on Apple, you can do better than that, I don't believe it costs more than a couple of pounds to make and you're selling it to people who have spent hundreds on your products already. Help keep your customers alive!

 

[Abazigal]

Isn't that the whole point to counterfeit goods? The manufacturers skimp on materials and build quality to produce a product that has lower costs and with compromised standards.

Little surprise when problems arise subsequently.

 

[cerberusss]

This is going to get worse. The new MacBook Pros accept USB-C. Whereas chargers for iPhones just check the resistance over the USB wires, USB-C defines the Power Delivery protocol. Thus all chargers (and some cables) need to have firmware on board.

So besides fake chargers, we now have reputable brands which bring out chargers with firmware bugs.

I advise everyone to only buy MacBook chargers that have been vetted by Nathan K. and Benson Leung:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1vnpEXfo2HCGADdd9G2x9dMDWqENiY2kgBJUu29f_TX8/edit
[doublepost=1480676676][/doublepost]

"... that could cost you your home or even your life, or the life of a loved-one," he said.


WTF.

Slow down, buddy.

What, you think he's overdoing it?
http://www.stuff.co.nz/technology/g...harger-may-have-sparked-wellington-house-fire

That's just the second hit from my favorite search engine. But go ahead and save a tenner.

 

[Porco]

Isn't that the whole point to counterfeit goods? The manufacturers skimp on materials and build quality to produce a product that has lower costs and with compromised standards.

Little surprise when problems arise subsequently.

Some might say that unfortunately your description applies to a few genuine, non-counterfeit goods from certain companies lately too though!

 

[Abazigal]

Some might say that unfortunately your description applies to a few genuine, non-counterfeit goods from certain companies lately too though!

Well-played. You leave me no choice but to like your post for managing to elicit a snicker with your backhanded barb.

 

[keysofanxiety]

...but for the plugs to charge your iPads, iPhones and iPods any old USB wall plug will do.

Well this very article refutes what you've just said. You may not have had a problem with the cheap ones, but that doesn't mean they're not dangerous.

 

[Matthew.H]

Really? Who would have known that cheap fake chargers can be dangerous when there have been multiple cases on the news and online where fakes have blown up. I'll never understand the mentality of someone who buys a £700 phone and thinks it's a good idea to buy a replacement charger from the local market for £2. If you can afford an expensive phone you can afford to buy the genuine charger for it. You can generally get away with buying cheap cables as long as the charger itself is genuine but I wouldn't do it myself.

 

[jimthing]

This is going to get worse. The new MacBook Pros accept USB-C. Whereas chargers for iPhones just check the resistance over the USB wires, USB-C defines the Power Delivery protocol. Thus all chargers (and some cables) need to have firmware on board.

So besides fake chargers, we now have reputable brands which bring out chargers with firmware bugs.

I advise everyone to only buy MacBook chargers that have been vetted by Nathan K. and Benson Leung:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1vnpEXfo2HCGADdd9G2x9dMDWqENiY2kgBJUu29f_TX8/edit
[doublepost=1480676676][/doublepost]

What, you think he's overdoing it?
http://www.stuff.co.nz/technology/g...harger-may-have-sparked-wellington-house-fire

That's just the second hit from my favorite search engine. But go ahead and save a tenner.

Hit the nail on the head. THIS is the major problem now. So-called trustworthy brands, are currently producing cables/adapters/chargers that all have misleading specs, are often not clearly marked as USB-IF certified, and most have one or two things they don't happen to do out of the many they should: Tbolt at full 40Gbps, with USB at 10Gbps, with full 100W charging. Instead different brands offer different specs at different lengths at different prices?!

Confusing, misleading, and not being upfront about what's in their pipeline for near future cable releases that may be better than the half as good ones at high prices they are selling people now.

 

[Porco]

Well-played. You leave me no choice but to like your post for managing to elicit a snicker with your backhanded barb.

Lol, thanks. But in all seriousness it wasn't (just) meant as a joke... I guess the point was whilst it's sensible to only use genuine items, even those can be of lower quality or even dangerous sometimes, for the reasons you stated. So it's probably wise to be cautious with the use and placement of any electrical equipment, as well as cautious about where one sources it from.

 

[mchammer187]

Well this very article refutes everything you've just said. You may not have had a problem with the cheap ones, but that doesn't mean they're not dangerous.

I thought the article was referring to counterfeit apple chargers. As long as the third party properly licenses from all apple I'm sure it's fine.

Apple as far as I know does not make a car charger does that mean any car charger is unsafe? Obviously not

 

[Zirel]

Sure, they don't look anything like the real Apple ones, but who cares?

Apparently lots of people care, go to Aliexpress and see how many fake Apple chargers are there from different manufacturers!

People love to be tricked.

I also have a charger from Aukey, costed $20, and it charges everything at once, got rid of all chargers in my bedroom (huge cleanup) and it's even faster!

 

[OllyW]

Well this very article refutes everything you've just said. You may not have had a problem with the cheap ones, but that doesn't mean they're not dangerous.

This article is about cheap dodgy counterfeit goods. You will be perfectly safe buying cheaper chargers made by reputable manufacturers that are sold by reputable retailers who are all above board and are not bypassing the safety regulations. Apple is not the only the only company in the world that can make safe chargers.

 

[dantastic]

The likes of Amazon and Ebay should be held to a higher standard in these cases. I have been stung in the past when buying something which looked like a genuine article from sellers appearing to be based in the UK only to find a counterfeit in the post from China.
Ebay doesn't give 2 ***** about all the crap being peddled. The place really is a cesspool.

 

[Zirel]

Surely there should be a happy medium where everyone can buy a safe, properly insulated chargers without being price-gouged by Apple?

Brick and mortar stores? No, you'll be price-gouged by the store.

Go to Amazon and buy one from them.

 

[keysofanxiety]

This article is about cheap dodgy counterfeit goods. You will be perfectly safe buying cheaper chargers made by reputable manufacturers that are sold by reputable retailers who are all above board and are not bypassing the safety regulations. Apple is not the only the only company in the world that can make safe chargers.

Edited, was taking more issue with the last sentence

 

[DanTheAppleMan]

Isn't that the whole point to counterfeit goods? The manufacturers skimp on materials and build quality to produce a product that has lower costs and with compromised standards.

Little surprise when problems arise subsequently.

The only problem with that is, it doesn't cost the mfr any more in parts to put the right insulation clearance in.