Mom and son duo sentenced for massive fake iPhone warranty scam

By

Iphone11
Pair got their hands on 111,000 iPhones during scam.
Photo: Apple

A 34-year-old Chinese citizen living in Switzerland has been sentenced to three-and-a-half years in jail for a massive fraud involving Apple’s AppleCare+ warranty system. His 56-year-old mom, who helped him pull off the scam, was given a suspended 18-month jail sentence.

The pair, who have not been named, bought cheap copycat iPhones from China, before swapping them out for 111,000 new authentic iPhones. AppleCare+ allows customers to replace defective devices with new models when they are damaged.

The case is similar to another case which took place in the United States last year. In that instance, the perpetrator received a similar three-year jail sentence for their crime.

Giant iPhone warranty scam

In addition to the three-and-a-half year jail sentence, the main perpetrator of this latest scam will also be banned from Switzerland, where he has lived for two decades, for seven years.

The pair “returned” the fake iPhones to Apple, usually claiming the devices had been water damaged and would not turn on. They travelled around Switzerland pulling off the scam. Once they had received the legitimate iPhones, they sent them to Hong Kong and were paid around $11 in commission per iPhone. They claim that they didn’t know the iPhones they were sent were fake.

Authorities stumbled upon the scam when Swiss customs intercepted a package of 50 counterfeit iPhones.

Source: Securing Industry

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