There's a 90 percent chance the Apple accessories you bought on Amazon are fake (AMZN, AAPL)
It looks like 90% of the Apple accessories sold on Amazon, like chargers and cables, are fake, according to a legal document from Apple obtained by Patently Apple.
In the legal document, Apple claims it bought "well over 100 iPhone devices, Apple power products, and Lightning cables" from Amazon and found that nearly 90% of the accessories were fake.
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Apart from potentially not working as well as genuine Apple products, Apple also states in the document that counterfeit Apple accessories can cause damage to property, and even bodily harm. The company claims that counterfeit accessories are often poorly built with "inferior" – and even missing – parts, and they don't go through industry-standard safety tests. As a result, they risk catching fire or sending "deadly" electric shocks to users during normal usage.
Apple is suing supplier Mobile Star for selling counterfeit Apple accessories, which Amazon said was its source for the "majority" of the counterfeit Apple products. According to Apple, Mobile Star actively claimed that the accessories it was selling were authentic, and even illegally used Apple trademarks and product images to make the counterfeit products appear authentic.
It's tough to tell which Apple products are genuine on Amazon, as the listings can appear legitimate as if they were listed by Apple itself. Overall, a good indication that a product is counterfeit or poorly made is if it's too cheap to be true. If it's drastically cheaper than what Apple charges, then it's likely to be counterfeit or poorly made without the proper certifications of safety and quality.
You can also check the reviews on Amazon. If a number of people report that the accessories caught fire, started smoking, or simply malfunctioned, and the star rating is two and half stars or below, it's likely to be a fake or poorly made product.
Apple and Amazon did not immediately return requests for comment.
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