Brothers from China for 8 years exchanged fake iPhone and iPad for new ones and earned $ 6 million on Apple

The U.S. Department of Justice is reporting another scam related to Apple products.

Scheme

The group was led by three brothers from China. A total of 14 people were involved. These are immigrants from China, Russia and Vietnam, and most of them had American citizenship.

The idea of ​​the brothers is not new: they brought fake iPhones and iPads from China to the USA. Moreover, they were good fakes: each device had an IMEI and a serial number that corresponded to the numbers of genuine smartphones and tablets. Further, they were disabled and taken to service centers, where they were exchanged for new (and genuine) gadgets.

After that, the new iPhone and iPad were sent to China, where they were resold.

The group has been operating since 2011. During this time, it caused Apple $ 6.1 million in damage.

During the operation, FBI agents found 250 thousanddollars and 90 original iPhones that were preparing to be shipped from the United States. The Liao brothers now face up to 20 years in prison and a huge fine. They were charged with 76 counts, including fraud, a conspiracy to launder money and identity theft.

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Recall that in April we told you about a similar case: then two Chinese students, using the same scheme, tricked Apple into $ 895,800.

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