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If you live in Iran and recently purchased a particularly cheap iPhone and it never arrived, you too may be a victim of a scam that has cost Iranian residents millions of dollars.
The Financial Times called the scam a “multi-million dollar scam” in which customers who were fooled by clever sales pitches never received the products they ordered. It led to picketing outside police stations, scrutiny of the types of services endorsed by Iranian celebrities, and revealed the lengths to which consumers would go to get their hands on their prized mobile devices. ”.
Millions of dollars, thousands of customers
When Iranians, especially young people, saw Kourosh’s marketing, they were hooked. The promise of a cheaper iPhone in a country where the iPhone is considered an “American luxury” is resistant to many people, who tend not only to save money but also to spend a lot of time setting it up. It was too much. It is estimated that $35 million was stolen by Couloche.
Why were they so easily fooled? Amir Hossein Sharifian, the man behind the company, has capitalized on massive celebrity endorsements, including “Iranian athletes and other celebrities.” Attracted by the marketing, the buyer waited until the shipping time was over, but in the end he apparently ran out of iPhone.
The iPhone is an expensive and desirable device in Iran, where purchasing power is increasingly declining. Not only that, Tehran banned imports of the latest and greatest iPhones, the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Pro, further increasing the iPhone’s shine. As elsewhere in the world, they’re a fashionable item, but Apple’s restrictions on the use of the App Store and Apple ID have made them more difficult to use. Users in Iran are circumventing restrictions with foreign addresses, using gift cards to buy apps and games, and importing banned devices from neighboring Middle Eastern countries.
This image and the extraordinary difficulty of sourcing are the reasons why cut-price iPhones are so attractive to potential customers, and why Sharifan was able to steal so much money so easily.
fall out
Those affected by this scam picketed Tehran police headquarters and demanded action against Sharifan and the Kourosh company. When police responded and went looking for Sharifan, they found that he had already left the country. His whereabouts have since been determined and Iranian authorities have said he will be “extradited through Interpol.”
As for celebrity supporters, they face intense scrutiny from Iranians. It is unclear whether they were intentionally involved in the fraud, but there are voices calling for them to be held accountable.
Unfortunately, there is no news on whether affected customers will receive a refund from Sharifan.
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