We are used to hearing about fake smartphones in China. We don’t usually hear about fake phones from Europe. That’s why German authorities must have been very surprised to find 250 fake Samsung Galaxy S4 smartphones in a shipment that arrived from Hong Kong at the Stuttgart airport this month.
According to Stuttgarter-Nachrichten, Customs officers at the airport became suspicious after the alleged owners of the shipment declared that it contained just $2,000 worth of cable. The officers opened all the packages, and sure enough, they found hundreds of counterfeit smartphones. Apparently, the handsets were not supposed to go on sale in Germany, as they were headed to Georgia. All 250 fake Galaxy S4s were confiscated and destroyed with hammers.
If the 250 Samsung Galaxy S4 units had been genuine, they would have been worth about $200,000 (€150,000). German authorities now want to know if this was a one-time delivery, or if there is a network of counterfeiters out there. It’s not clear if the fake Galaxy handsets looked good enough to fool customers into thinking that they’re genuine. You always have to be careful and only buy from a reputable dealer.
Source Phone Arena
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