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29 March 2024

Dubai's Dh200 iPhone crackdown....

Original iPhone on the right and a fake one on the left (Picture Courtesy: EMARAT AL YOUM)

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By Staff

About 1,700 counterfeit iPhones were seized in raids from shops in Dubai, according to a top official.

Abdullah Al Shehi, Director, Department of Intellectual Property Rights, said the confiscated iPhones had the Apple trademark on them and were sold at a price between Dh200 and Dh300 per piece, reported Emarat Al Youm.

The fake phones were seized in inspections carried out by the Department of Trade Protection, Commercial Compliance and Consumer Protection, Department of Dubai Economic Development (DED).

Al Shehi said, the department is co-ordinating with customs to track down the main supplier of the fake product, and stop the flow of counterfeit phones into the country, he added.

The department is also in the process of studying how many fake phones are in circulation in the market, he said and added that customers buy the phones well aware of the fact that they are not the original products.

The sellers do not provide buyers with quality guarantee certificates, thereby, absolving themselves of any wrongdoing and cheating customers, noted Al Shehi. However, this is no justification to sell such products, he stressed. Dealers will be penalized for violating laws.

Al Shehi called upon residents to co-operate with the department in stopping such sales because it is not only against national interests but is also a commercial fraud.

The confiscated phones with be disposed off after ensuring they are fake, he said and added that an eco-friendly method of destruction will be determined by the department.

Al-Shehi said the department conducts regular workshops to help people distinguish fake products.