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Apple Is Suing Over Fake Chargers Sold by Amazon

The fake chargers could fry your phone—or you.
Image: Flickr/freestocks.org

If you bought an "official" Apple power adapter or charging cable from Amazon and noticed it was, well, kind of crappy, there's probably a good reason for it—it's a fake.

That's according to Apple, whose representatives filed a lawsuit in California on Monday against New York-based company Mobile Star LLC. Apple alleges that Amazon has been selling knock-off versions of its chargers, which Amazon purchased from Mobile Star. The fake cables could put users and their devices at risk, Apple stated in a court filing, and requests a permanent injunction against Mobile Star, millions in awarded damages, as well as a trial by jury.

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According to the lawsuit, Apple has purchased a number of charging cables directly from Amazon—not a third-party reseller on the platform—over the last nine months and found that they were fakes. The products looked exactly like Apple's, came in boxes carrying Apple logos, and even had fake Apple serial numbers imprinted, the lawsuit alleges. According to Apple, of all the products they've purchased through Amazon and tested, "almost 90% of these products [were] counterfeit."

Read More: Samsung Hit With Class Action Lawsuit Over Exploding Galaxy Note 7

"These counterfeits have the potential to overheat, catch fire, and deliver a deadly electric shock to consumers while in normal use," Apple's lawsuit alleges.

"Consumers, relying on Amazon.com's reputation, have no reason to suspect the power products they purchased from Amazon.com are anything but genuine," the lawsuit continues.

According to the lawsuit, Amazon complied when Apple alerted the company to the issue. Amazon both turned over the name of its supplier for the cables—Mobile Star—and handed over its entire inventory of items purchased from Mobile Star.

"Amazon has zero tolerance for the sale of counterfeits on our site," Amazon spokesperson Aaron Toso wrote me in an email. "We work closely with manufacturers and brands and pursue wrongdoers aggressively."

Mobile Star, however, would not tell Apple the name its own supplier and even directly sold fake cables to Apple after being contacted by the company about the issue, Apple alleges. An email sent to Mobile Stars main address bounced back, and a call to the company's main line went unanswered.

Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

It's worth noting that the fakes might have been obvious to many—while an iPhone charging cable costs $35 when purchased from Apple directly, the ones on Amazon sold for just $9.35. You know what they say about things that seem too good to be true.

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