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Two Chinese people arrested and convicted of submitting more than 5,000 fake iPhones worth more than $3 million to Apple in exchange for genuine devices could face 20 years in prison. be.
Apple offers a one-year warranty on new iPhones, allowing customers to return defective devices to Apple or an authorized retailer for a replacement. In addition, Apple offers an insurance protection plan that allows customers to extend the warranty period beyond his one year.
The company offers several ways to submit a defective iPhone for repair or replacement under its Warranty Service and Device Replacement Program.
Options include shipping your phone for free to Apple via United Parcel Service (UPS), visiting an Apple retail store, or going to an Apple Authorized Service Provider.
From July 2017 to December 2019, Haotian Sun and Pengfei Xue (and their co-conspirators Wen Jin Gao and Dian Luo) took advantage of Apple’s policy of replacing non-functional counterfeit devices.
“The purpose of the conspiracy was for the conspirators to fraudulently obtain genuine iPhones from Apple after submitting non-genuine iPhones to Apple for repair and replacement, thereby unlawfully enriching themselves,” according to the indictment. “It was.”
Fake iPhone with spoofed IMEI and serial number
Through this multi-year scheme, they shipped counterfeit devices from Hong Kong to Commercial Mail Receiving Authority (CMRA) mailboxes at UPS stores and opened them using real driver’s licenses and university ID cards.
They then submit genuine iPhones with falsified serial numbers and IMEI numbers to Apple retail stores and Apple Authorized Service Providers, and ship them to Apple via private and commercial interstate carriers such as FedEx, DLH, and UPS. I received a replacement iPhone from .
These exchange devices were sent to co-conspirators in Hong Kong to sell and share the illegally obtained funds among members of the scheme.
A jury this week found Mr. Sun and Mr. Xue guilty of mail fraud and conspiracy to commit mail fraud. U.S. Postal Inspectors arrested them in December 2019.
They each face up to 20 years in prison and are scheduled to be sentenced on June 21, 2024.
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