Chinese Nationals Convicted in $3M Apple iPhone Fraud Scheme

Two Maryland residents found guilty of mail fraud after submitting over 5,000 counterfeit iPhones for repair, exploiting Apple's warranty service.

Two Chinese nationals, Haotian Sun and Pengfei Xue, were convicted of mail fraud for a scheme involving over 5,000 counterfeit iPhones, aiming to defraud Apple out of more than $3 million.
The fraudsters submitted fake iPhones with spoofed serial numbers to Apple, claiming they needed repair under warranty, leading Apple to replace them with genuine iPhones over 2,700 times.
The counterfeit iPhones were shipped from Hong Kong to UPS mailboxes in the Washington D.C. Metropolitan area, managed by Sun and Xue.
Both men, aged 33 and residing in Maryland, face up to 20 years in prison, with sentencing scheduled for June 21.
This case is part of a larger trend of similar scams targeting Apple, highlighting vulnerabilities in the company's repair and replacement programs.