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Apple Said To Have 'Dramatically Reduced' Multi-Billion-Dollar iPhone Repair Fraud in China (macrumors.com)
From a report: Within the past four years, Apple has managed to "dramatically reduce" the rate of iPhone-related repair fraud in its retail stores in China, according to The Information's Wayne Ma. The report is based on interviews with more than a dozen former Apple employees who spoke on condition of anonymity. In 2013, Apple is said to have discovered a highly sophisticated fraud scheme in which organized thieves would buy or steal iPhones, remove valuable components like the processor or logic board, swap in fake components, and return the "broken" iPhones to receive replacements they could resell. From the report: "Thieves would stand outside stores with suitcases full of iPhones with some of the original components stripped out and replaced with inferior parts, two of the people said. The fraudsters would hire people to pretend to be customers to return them, each taking a device to stand in line at the Genius Bar, the people said. Once the phones were swapped, the actors would pass the new phones to the fraudsters and get paid for their time, the people said."
Once you've had your phone repaired, you'll see that there is a spectrum of quality in the replacement parts that can be used by the repair shop. The parts cost scales with the quality. Two big dollar items that are frequently replaced are screens and batteries.
In this scenario, the fraudster is buying a brand-new phone. Then taking out the top-shelf battery and screen and replacing them both with sub-par components. The fraudster is then commissioning a straw man to return the phone to the store, receiving a brand-new phone which is then sold to recoup the initial cash outlay for the original purchase of the phone. The fraudster is then selling the screen and battery as OEM-quality replacement parts to repair shops. This last part is where the ??? profit exists.
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Apple is said to have discovered a highly sophisticated fraud scheme in which organized thieves would buy or steal iPhones, remove valuable components like the processor or logic board, swap in fake components, and return the "broken" iPhones to receive replacements they could resell.
How about simply selling the bought/stolen iphones instead? I don't understand the scam, unless they are removing enough parts over time to occasionally construct a whole iphone. And even then I don't understand.
Is this just propaganda pushing a narrative to justify Apple locking out third-party repair services?
You aren't comprehending the scope of this.
The fraudsters are taking out anything that doesn't show without a disassembly, then returning the phones for an EXCHANGE. Apple then has to pretty much SCRAP what is left.
How does that NOT damage Apple?