Duo That Defrauded Apple Out of 5,000 iPhones With Repair Scheme Could Spend Up to 20 Years in Prison

[MacRumors]

Two Maryland residents that tried to defraud Apple out of 5,000 iPhones worth millions of dollars were today found guilty of mail fraud. Chinese nationals Haotian Sun and Pengfei Xue masterminded a scheme to get Apple to exchange genuine iPhones for counterfeit iPhones sent in for repair.

Between May 2017 and September 2019, Sun and Xue received shipments of inauthentic iPhones from Hong Kong, using spoofed serial numbers and/or IMEI numbers to return them to Apple retail stores and Apple Authorized Service Providers.

More than 5,000 total iPhones were submitted to Apple during that two year period.

The two have been found guilty of mail fraud and conspiracy to commit mail fraud, and are facing a statutory maximum sentence of 20 years in prison. Sentencing will take place on June 21, 2024.

Article Link: Duo That Defrauded Apple Out of 5,000 iPhones With Repair Scheme Could Spend Up to 20 Years in Prison

 

[The Mad Kiwi]

They probably realise by now that it wasn't the great idea it seemed at the time.

 

[newyorksole]

insane. definitely saw a lot of fraud when I worked at an Apple Store. was hard to prove said fraud sometimes, but it was happening both on the sales floor and at the Genius Bar.

 

[klasma]

They should get nominated for the Darwin Awards.

 

[kmm1482]

Having been an employee, I can attest that there were gentlemen who would often come in with a pile of iPhones that wouldn’t power on that were looking to swap them out for new, working devices.

 

[sw1tcher]

They should get nominated for the Darwin Awards.

Why, did they have something to do with Mac OS X?

Darwin

Darwin is the core operating system of Apple's Mac OS X, and runs on an open source kernel called XNU. Apple first released it to the open source community in 2000. Darwin integrates a number of technologies, most importantly the Mach 3.0 kernel, operating system services based on 4.4 BSD...

apple.fandom.com

 

[klasma]

Why, did they have something to do with Mac OS X?

Darwin

Darwin is the core operating system of Apple's Mac OS X, and runs on an open source kernel called XNU. Apple first released it to the open source community in 2000. Darwin integrates a number of technologies, most importantly the Mach 3.0 kernel, operating system services based on 4.4 BSD...

apple.fandom.com

It's also the core for iOS.

 

[Qianlong]

So when they get out they'll have the new iPhone 38!!

 

[arc of the universe]

and. throw. away. the. keys.
the cost of fraud is of course built into all products and services.
may they rot in jail.

 

[Astro7x]

So what happened to the 5,000 iPhones?

 

[JohnnyApple$eed]

Sadly, they’ll never see steel bars these days. A slap on the wrist at best.

 

[NewYorkRanger]

insane. definitely saw a lot of fraud when I worked at an Apple Store. was hard to prove said fraud sometimes, but it was happening both on the sales floor and at the Genius Bar.

Have any juicy stories you can share?

 

[Kevin2055]

Two Maryland residents that tried to defraud Apple out of 5,000 iPhones worth millions of dollars were today found guilty of mail fraud. Chinese nationals Haotian Sun and Pengfei Xue masterminded a scheme to get Apple to exchange genuine iPhones for counterfeit iPhones sent in for repair.

Between May 2017 and September 2019, Sun and Xue received shipments of inauthentic iPhones from Hong Kong, using spoofed serial numbers and/or IMEI numbers to return them to Apple retail stores and Apple Authorized Service Providers.

More than 5,000 total iPhones were submitted to Apple during that two year period.

The two have been found guilty of mail fraud and conspiracy to commit mail fraud, and are facing a statutory maximum sentence of 20 years in prison. Sentencing will take place on June 21, 2024.

Article Link: Duo That Defrauded Apple Out of 5,000 iPhones With Repair Scheme Will Spend Up to 20 Years in Prison

Why did they think they could get away from it?

 

[newyorksole]

Have any juicy stories you can share?

yes, but not specific stories so to not give away identity 😂.

but what happened at many Apple Stores were people (often from Asian countries) coming in with “bricked” phones to get them swapped. sometimes the same person would have 1-5 phones and swap them all in the same day or over time.

we could tell something funny was going on and sometimes denied service, but not always.

and then on the sales side there were phones being returned after a new model would go on sale. sometimes the phones would be opened, replaced and re-sealed. so even if someone was doing a “closed box” return, we’d open it anyway and inspect.

 

[BootsWalking]

I'm surprised they got away with it for as long as they did and for 5,000 phones. Maybe I'll send Apple my old Blackberry and tell them it's an iPhone 15 Max with a broken keyboard.

 

[trusso]

If little faults, proceeding on distemper,
Shall not be wink'd at, how shall we stretch our eye
When capital crimes, chew'd, swallow'd and digested,
Appear before us?

(Shakespeare, Henry V, II.2)


*looks at 45 and the 1%*

🤨

 

[tyranne201]

20 years is too much. That's a homicide punishment. Not actually fair. The judicial system in the United States is actually crazy. No wonder you guys have the highest incarceration in the world.

 

[CraigB1960]

Sadly, they’ll never see steel bars these days. A slap on the wrist at best.

Not at the Federal level...though the judge now has ability to depart minimum sentencing guidelines.

 

[MacProFCP]

Wouldn’t surprise me if these two were swapped in some prisoner exchange with the CPP.

 

[tridley68]

Hopefully big bubba is kind to them NOT!

 

[Flamingdeathbolts]

20 years is too much. That's a homicide punishment. Not actually fair. The judicial system in the United States is actually crazy. No wonder you guys have the highest incarceration in the world.

That’s the max sentence. They will probably get a lot less.

Good example is Jen Shah from Real Housewives of Salt Lake City. She was facing 30years in jail for scam calls fraud. Pleaded guilty but judge gave her only a jail sentence of 6.5 years and she can even get that shortened by 300days or more for good behavior.

 

[GraXXoR]

Up to 20 years? Damn, that's incredible... And to think that in the US, voluntary manslaughter incarceration is "for a period of no more than 15 years".

Someone could have died and they'd have got a lower maximum sentence. LOL

Ah, the US... gotta love their priorities...

 

[Arid]

If they were apprehended for the identical offense in China, they would likely face a life sentence.

 

[GraXXoR]

If they were apprehended for the identical offense in China, they would likely face a life sentence.

Or let off depending on who their fathers are.

 

[Jimmy Bubbles]

I remember a similar scheme happening at Apple with the 2 stores I previously worked at. They would always come in with home buttons “not working”. This was back between 2011-2013.