Turn into a “brick”: a new scheme of fraud in the sale of mobile phones is revealed

Gadgets stop working after a couple of hours after purchase

In Moscow, another scheme for the sale of mobile equipment has been uncovered, which can leave the client without money and without a working device. Some online stores under the guise of new gadgets sell so-called refurbished gadgets – and their performance is sometimes calculated several hours after purchase. Such sellers, in fact, do not bear warranty obligations. How this scheme is arranged in detail and how to recognize scammers, MK found out.

The market for mobile devices, especially used ones, has always been “overheated” – gadgets are quite expensive, and they often break down, quickly become obsolete and regularly become pickpocket trophies. Therefore, it is not surprising that, in addition to honest retailers, classic horse dealers work here – just like at horse fairs of previous centuries. The principle is simple – to give a marketable appearance and sell it off, and then – I don’t know you, who you are, go to court.

– On October 12, I ordered a Xiaomy Mi Max 3 mobile phone in the online store, – pensioner Vyacheslav Lavrinovich, a reader of MK, told. – Of course, when buying this outdated model, I knew that the phone was refurbished: this is honestly written on the website of the Chinese online store. Nevertheless, it suited me – after all, a working device was offered.

Four hours after the purchase, the device stopped turning on, continues Lavrynovych. In the warranty workshop, the phone was taken away “for testing” – then the terms of “examination and repair” stretched from several hours up to 45 working days. It is interesting that almost immediately after the interlocutor of “MK” contacted the collection point and the workshop, their addresses disappeared from the store’s website.

– After 45 days, I came to the warranty workshop for the phone, – added the pensioner. – The master, having learned about such a story of mine, was terribly indignant, gave me the contact phone number of a certain Leonid, who supplies him with phones for repairs. I called, and the “supplier” immediately refused everything, saying that he did not know such an online store.

As a result, after several rounds of dialogues in raised tones, the buyer managed to return the device, albeit not a functional one, but at least the money (the exact phone numbers and names of the actors are at the disposal of the editors). “As store employees said, the victims, alas, usually put up with losses,” Lavrynovych stressed. “Our low-paid pensioners are the hardest hit, as a phone could cost them a month’s pension.”

We contacted one of the former employees of the distribution service of the online store. “They transfer the collected orders and invoices from themselves already with checks,” she said. – Invoices are printed, warranty cards too, and the seals there seem to be “left”, as is the legal address that is written on top of the invoice. All these checks and warranty cards go around in circles.”

According to the employee, if a person refused the device upon receipt, then the device is simply repackaged and sold further. Of the characteristic defects, the employee named traces of glue, abrasions on the cases.

“The restored phone itself can work happily ever after,” Sergey Temnikov, owner of a digital equipment repair shop, told MK. – The question is how and with what materials and tools it was repaired. For example, it is impossible to restore cracked motherboards, which is necessary for full functioning, but it is possible to blind them “on snot” so that they work for several days or a couple of weeks.

When choosing a used or refurbished phone, the master advises getting a warranty – this is usually possible when shopping not “on the Internet”, but directly at a repair point that has been located at the same address for many years. If this is not possible – for example, if we are talking about a rare model – then you will have to treat such a purchase as a gamble.