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Two Chinese engineering students in Oregon allegedly cheated Apple to replace hundreds of thousands of dollars in replacement of an iPhone and are now facing criminal charges in federal court, as reported for the first time the reporter, L & # 39; Oregonian. Authorities allege that students have implemented a complicated scheme to snatch Apple from the money by using counterfeit devices and by exploiting Apple's return policy.
Starting in 2017, the two men allegedly smuggled thousands of counterfeit iPhones from China into the United States and sent them to Apple for repair or replacement, saying the imitations would not be lit. In many cases, Apple has actually replaced the counterfeit products with real iPhone, which cost the company about $ 895,800.
Yangyang Zhou, who has just completed his engineering degree at Oregon State University, would be responsible for sending fake shipments to the United States and sending real iPhones to China. . His accomplice, Quan Jiang, who studied engineering at Linn Benton Community College, shared an address with Zhou and brought the fake phones to Apple, online or in person, to request replacements. Once the real iPhones were sent to China to be sold for profit, a partner passed money to Jiang's mother, who then deposited the funds into an account used by Jiang in the United States. explains the complaint.
According to complaints filed by the federal government, Jiang and Zhou said that they did not know that the original phones were fakes. The two remain in detention, but Jiang, charged in 2018, is monitored by GPS. Zhou is accused of illegally exporting goods, while Jiang is accused of illegal trafficking in counterfeit goods and wire fraud.
An agent from Homeland Security explained in the complaints that the system was working mainly because Apple Store employees could not verify the authenticity of the devices because they could not be turned on. But the process of replacing the Apple phone has been triggered meanwhile, men claiming to be covered by the product warranty. Apparently, Apple did not need proof of purchase to replace the phones.
Jiang allegedly submitted 3,069 warranty claims and Apple granted 1,493 replacement iPhone. At the estimated value of $ 600 per phone, Apple has lost nearly $ 900,000 from this scheme. In June and July 2017, Apple sent orders to stop and abstain at the address indicated by Zhou, informing Jiang that Apple knew that it was importing fake iPhones. Jiang did not respond to the notices.
The two men are not the only ones who want to take advantage of big tech companies. Last year, a Chinese national living in New Jersey with a student visa pled guilty to selling fake iPhones and iPads to his customers, pocketing $ 1.1 million worth of sales revenue. And last month, a Lithuanian man pleaded guilty to cheating $ 100 million by Google and Facebook by sending false e-bills and pretending to be a Taiwan hardware company.
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