Millions of listings deleted! The crackdown is still ongoing...

Last year, cybersecurity researcher Andrea Stroppa had an Apple charger explode that he borrowed from a friend . The charger turned out to be a fake purchased through an unofficial channel on Instagram .

It was described as an "Apple original" and priced about 25 percent less than the $19 price tag of the original. After the explosion, the friend contacted the online seller only to find that it had disappeared.

And this is not an isolated case . The Ghost data team monitored about 163 fake Apple accessories wholesalers on Instagram from February 8 to March 8. AirPods Pro worth $249 was sold for $25 , and MagSafe Charger worth $38 was sold for $5.50 . The Instagram account in the study uploaded 50,000 sales posts in the last year and received about 600,000 likes and comments.

( Image source: MacRumors )

The study also found that unlike the counterfeit luxury goods market, which is mainly based on WeChat Pay and PayPal transactions, the preferred payment systems for counterfeit Apple products are bank wire transfers and credit cards . One seller made $140,000 in a single day of sales through his HSBC personal bank account .

A Facebook spokesperson said that buying and selling counterfeit goods on Instagram violates the company's policies and that they have invested more resources in the global notice and takedown program to take action more quickly .

An Apple spokesperson said : " The safety of our customers is our top priority, and the risks associated with counterfeit products can be serious . "

An Apple spokesperson also mentioned: "We have a dedicated team of experts who continually work with law enforcement agencies , merchants , social media companies, and e-commerce sites around the world to remove counterfeit products from the marketplace. Last year, we removed more than 1 million listings for counterfeit and fake Apple products from online marketplaces such as Facebook and Instagram . "

Ghost Data researchers point to studies conducted by the U.S. government and the European Union over the past few years that show the growing prevalence of counterfeit goods sold over the Internet . Take counterfeit Apple accessories, for example , which are identical to the genuine product and difficult to distinguish , but do not have the same safety standards.

Counterfeit products are rampant, and the fight against counterfeiting is ongoing. Apart from the actions of the brands themselves, platforms and relevant departments are also actively controlling counterfeit products, as can be seen from the launch of Operation Longteng in the new year and the counterfeit interception operation of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Moreover, starting from March 1, serious infringements will be subject to criminal penalties, so sellers should also pay attention!

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