UL Warns - Fake iPhone Chargers Can Be Dangerous or Deadly

99% of phone chargers sold online fail UL safety tests.

October 17, 2017 - Los Angeles, CA – Consumers love a good deal, and shelling out $25 or more for a genuine Apple® phone charger can be incentive enough to buy a cheaper deceptive counterfeit. In addition to explosions, fires and injuries, it may prove to be a deadly decision.

An Underwriters Lab ("UL") test¹ of 400 iPhone chargers purchased online revealed some shocking results - 397 failed high voltage tests. Just 3 passed, and twelve were so poorly designed and constructed that they posed a risk of lethal electrocution to the user.

When you buy a counterfeit, you are buying an unknown, untested product that may injure you, burn down your home or cost your life. Sheryl Aldeguer, 28 was electrocuted by a faulty $4.99 charger in 2014, just after a flight attendant was electrocuted by her faulty third-party iPhone charger.

E-commerce websites including Amazon (AMZN), eBay (EBAY) and Alibaba (BABA) provide an avalanche of counterfeit products including Apple chargers. The Counterfeit Report, a consumer advocate and industry watchdog, purchased dozens of chargers on Amazon, eBay and AliExpress including the counterfeit Apple charger shown below. All were counterfeit.

Amazon recently gained the ire of global giant Apple® (AAPL) for the sale of counterfeit Apple chargers and other Apple products on its website. Apple Inc. says it has been buying Apple chargers and cables labeled as genuine directly from Amazon, and found nearly 90% of them to be counterfeit. Apple says the chargers and cables were being sold on Amazon as “genuine” Apple products.

Policing counterfeit activity on e-commerce sites is almost impossible, and a complaint common with manufacturers. The Counterfeit Report has removed over 19 million counterfeits from e-commerce websites - just a fraction of an inexhaustible supply of fakes destined for unsuspecting consumers.

Could you spot a counterfeit Apple® charger? Look closely and you will see the word “information” spelled incorrectly on the fake.

While the chargers may look the same on the outside, they are much different inside and pose a fire threat to users.

View the counterfeit Apple chargers on The Counterfeit Report.com: Apple A1265 Charger   Apple A1385 Charger   Apple 1401 Charger

Buyers should be very wary of purchasing any trademarked item unless directly from the manufacturer or authorized retailer. Counterfeiters and dishonest sellers are very good at creating visually deceptive products, packaging, holograms, certification labels and documentation that easily deceive consumers.

Companies that facilitate criminal activity and profit from dishonest sales which impact consumer safety, jobs and public trust create a public perception of deception and impunity. However, their reputation damage is only a small part of the problem: the value of counterfeit and pirated goods is forecast to grow to $2.8 trillion, and cost 5.4 million net job losses² by 2022, while manufacturer's brand integrity is tarnished or destroyed.

Footnote:
¹COUNTERFEIT IPHONE ADAPTERS
A UL TECHNICAL INVESTIGATION SHOWS A 99 PERCENT FAILURE RATE
Underwriters Laboratories (UL)

² THE ECONOMIC COSTS OF COUNTERFEITING AND PIRACY
The report was prepared for The International Chamber of Commerce (ICC BASCAP) and The International Trademark Association (INTA)
January 2017
Frontier Economics, Ltd.