Texas man busted with over two dozen counterfeit Apple devices
Amber NeelyImage Credit: KPRC Click2Houston
A Texas man has been charged with trademark counterfeiting after he was caught with more than $20,000 worth of counterfeit Apple products.
On March 29, Conelle Davis was stopped by the Houston police while driving a stolen Toyota Camry. Upon inspecting the vehicle, authorities found five iPads, 11 Apple Watches, and 13 AirPods.
If these items were genuine, their total value would have been over $20,000.
The Harris County Precinct Five Constable's Office confirmed that the investigated packaging and Apple products were real. But the actual products inside did not match their descriptions. For instance, a box labeled as a new iPad Pro may have contained an older, used, or broken product.
"I haven't seen this before," Dennis Underwood, CEO of cybersecurity company CyberCrucible told Click2Houston.
"It's really interesting because just about every one example you can give to say, 'Oh, this is how you check for a counterfeit.' The counterfeiters and the people who swap out devices, they read the same blog post, they read the same how-to and so really, it's not just one thing you need to look for. It's a combination of things."
Davis has been arrested twice in Harris County for trademark counterfeiting. He has faced similar charges elsewhere.
One day prior, police in Northern Ireland seized more than $750,000 worth of fake iPhones, AirPods, and iPhone cases.
In late March, the head of an international gang behind return fraud of 10,000 counterfeit iPhones and iPads was sentenced to prison for more than four years.
Malcolm Owen
Christine McKee
William Gallagher
6 Comments
Just another story supporting why I only buy Apple products directly from Apple. Even Amazon is dicey.
Counterfeit Apple devices? The article literally says the devices in the box were real Apple devices! Putting used equipment and selling it as new is fraud, not counterfeiting.
Gearing up for the right to repair crowd.....