New Report Finds That 99% of Fake Apple Chargers Are a Safety Risk

[Maura]

AppleInsider reports that Underwriters Laboratories (UL) have tested 400 fake Apple chargers that have been obtained from sellers in Australia, China, and the US, and found that 99% of them are unsafe.

UL subjected the chargers to high voltage in order to find out if they were correctly insulated, as well as making other important safety checks.

After carrying out the tests, UL said that chargers made by unknown manufacturers and purchased online were an “unknown entity” and were therefore dangerous to use.

In October Apple stepped up its efforts to tackle the growing problem of counterfeit chargers by suing counterfeit accessories seller Mobile Star for violating copyrights and trademarks by selling fake goods on Amazon and Groupon. The lawsuit particularly refers to fake 5-watt USB power adapters and Lightning-to-USB cables that Mobile Star sold online.

Apple said that it has an ongoing program designed to combat the sale of fake accessories, and that in the past 9 months it purchased “well over 100 iPhone devices, Apple power products, and Lightning cables sold as genuine” from Amazon’s “Fulfillment by Amazon” program, finding that nearly 90% of them were fake.

Back in 2012 engineer Ken Shirriff found that Apple’s official chargers had better and safer components than those in the fake ones, and following that Apple launched its still-running fake charger buy-back program.

Source: http://appleinsider.com/articles/16...ty-iphone-chargers-lack-safeguards-are-unsafe

 

[Jrome.brooks]

How is it a safety risk for iPhones die at 20% ?

 

[scifan57]

Fake chargers and cables are responsible for several deaths by electrocution by sending full line voltage through the iPhone. They've also been responsible for several fires.

 

[brixtonboy]

Fake chargers and cables are responsible for several deaths by electrocution by sending full line voltage through the iPhone. They've also been responsible for several fires.

It may be just me, but can l see you your proof. Thank you.
And l would like also to be sure that they were not Apple parts.

 

[scifan57]

It may be just me, but can l see you your proof. Thank you.
And l would like also to be sure that they were not Apple parts.

Here's one example. https://www.google.ca/amp/www.cbc.ca/amp/1.1313112?client=safari

 

[brixtonboy]

I have no reason to doubt what you say just want need to see evidence. That link to took me here.

Totally nix

 

[J. A.]

Interesting. When I followed the link at first, the article was there. Now I get the same screen as you.

 

[camabe216]

I get the article now when I tried.

 

[J. A.]

Try this link:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/a...chargers-after-electric-shock-death-1.1313112

 

[scifan57]

Both links still work for me.

 

[brixtonboy]

Thanks for the link it works now. Interesting to see that the original is dated August 2013 over 3 years old