We’ve always asked our readers to avoid using fake iPhone chargers. They may be a cheaper alternative to the original, but we’ve known, at the back of our minds, that they’re not safe. And now, a new finding from BBC has finally put a tangible number on this danger.
“Investigators have warned consumers they face potentially fatal risks after 99% of fake Apple chargers failed a basic safety test.”
Amazon is practically flooded with fake iPhone chargers. They resemble the original in almost every aspect, except performance. The test conducted by BBC’s investigators has concluded, quite definitively, that not only these chargers are not up to the mark. They are, in fact, dangerous.
A Simple Test
The investigators bought a total of 400 chargers sold online from 8 different countries (India was not one of them). They passed high-voltage charge through them to see if they could bear such voltage fluctuations. The standard iPhone chargers are EU/CE compliant and have fail safes to withstand such situations. Shockingly, 397 out of 400 chargers failed this test!
The menace of fake iPhone chargers has grown to such an extent that Apple recently sought legal action against one seller.
Apple revealed in October that it was suing a third-party vendor, which it said was putting customers “at risk” by selling power adapters masquerading as those sold by the Californian tech firm.
Leon Livermore, the chief executive of Chartered Trading Standards Institute (the group that conducted the actual testing) pointed to the results and insisted the importance of using only original chargers. In a statement, he said —
“It might cost a few pounds more, but counterfeit and second-hand goods are an unknown entity that could cost you your home or even your life, or the life of a loved-one.”
BBC went on to advise users to make sure that they were buying original devices.
“Counterfeit electrical goods are likely to be poor quality and in the worst cases unsafe. Look out for tell-tale signs of counterfeiting such as mistakes in brand names or logos, and check plugs for safety marks – all genuine electrical items made in the EU should have a CE mark on them.”