The industry surrounding the mobile phone is not only made up of companies that market their brands but certain manufacturers, users and even falsify competitive models and masquerading as authentic. We are not referring to goophone manufacturers such as, for example, which is dedicated to building clones of the iPhone but Android thrusting inside, and even falsifying the layer to mimic iOS.
We refer to counterfeit phones that are not so easy to distinguish. We’ll give you some clues so you can distinguish a real phone from a fake, not just because you know them apart on the street but if you are preparing to buy a mobile thrift that you may not all, or a new mobile in a trade, physical or online, do not inspire much confidence you. Lets see how
Check IMEI
Each manufactured phone is associated with an IMEI a unique identification number that reveals information over the phone if we know where to contrast. The fake phones do not usually have one or simply use a fake number and not go through the legal procedures to launch the terminal to the street.
If you have physical access to the phone, the best we can do is access the phone dialer and there typing * # 06 # and the phone will return the IMEI number that corresponds. We can introduce this IMEI on the web analysis of IMEI numbers so that the number check us data on it, as the model name, the country of manufacture and even the date of construction.
Obviously, a false IMEI will return data that do not correspond with the phone we are about to buy and have in hand. In addition, the extraction of this IMEI can make us realize that the phone does not have one, and therefore will no doubt face a false phone.
This method, however, is not 100% foolproof because there is evidence that has been achieved by altering the IMEI of a phone via software, but it is a complicated procedure that seems too much effort to do business as. However, it is good to know that the IMEI can get us more of a quandary in these cases.
Check external appearance
As 3D printing evolves and joining normal society, the never be more difficult to distinguish a real phone from a false one, because imitations are held today and put things very complicated. However, both the exterior design and materials can help us know if we are before the actual phone.
Each manufacturer usually set up a showroom on the web with each of their phones, although all have not incorporated today such behavior, and they can see details well described as the materials chosen for the construction, the colors available, they allow us to appreciate the finishes and also see the dimensions and weight.
If we have a high quality forgery, all this will match seamlessly with the original model but not all are as retailers and we can run with models that would not pass a simple test of eye contact. Whenever we’ve reported before how we want to buy the phone to compare it with which we offer, of course.
Our friends, the benchmarks
We may have the phone in our power, either because we can access it before buying or because we’ve already bought and we are thinking of making use of that refund without explanation to which we are entitled by law within the stipulated period. In that case, one of the procedures that can be performed to see if the phone is real or not install an application benchmark.
We have them in stores applications and some are free. These applications not only test our device to check their performance, something that we always use analysts, but also checked piece by piece every internal component and then show a list of the same.
Once the benchmark executed (Geekbench and AnTuTu show this list) we can see that the data we are shown in the list of components, from the processor to the RAM or quality of the camera, corresponds to the original model. For we cannot just be looking at a counterfeit model but also to one that has had a change of components.
If we want to go directly to play it safe, AnTuTu has an application called AnTuTu Officer that is specifically built to detect whether there is a false phone or to an authentic one. The application is completely free but is only available for Android terminals. We can download from Google Play or accessing your site. Scanning QR code with a simple camera on the web has the information we seek.
Check the operating system
It is not the most useful check if we are on Android, because the version of the operating system can be distorted by a simple ROM, although deep down is not so simple. But if we face a possible fake iPhone, what better way to know it is to resort to the simple check of which operating system is carrying. A quick navigation system settings and will provide you with the information we seek.
Android is also handy, although we have said it is falsifiable, then we can find a terminal that has a version of Android too new or perhaps very old. That we go to Settings> About phone> System, although each user layer can have different sections, see if the system corresponds to the right.
In this section of the settings we will also see some important information like IMEI, which we mentioned earlier, or baseband version, kernel and other system data. The ROMs are changed relatively easily if we have a minimum of knowledge but are data that can be taken into account when verifying whether or not the phone that we buy is the original phone. And also to know whether or not new, as a ROM changed will give us clues that the phone has been used before purchasing.
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A final specific point of the iPhone
Apple has a specific web page you can check whether we are dealing with a fake iPhone or before any authentic. Use it for our purposes is as simple as accessing device settings until you find the phone information, there we will have a serial number on the IMEI, we’ll have to copy.
Now we can go to the Apple website dedicated to checking the warranty and support and you type the serial number there that we copied above, or paste it if we are doing all operations with the terminal itself. If the iPhone is false, the number entered will fail when check and we will leave doubts.
There is another possibility, that it is an iPhone built from pieces of other iPhone, and then the serial number entered will let us see that does not match the model we’re trying to check. Anyway, on this website we will leave doubts about whether there is a fake iPhone or before any authentic.
What must be wary?
We must never forget that we must be wary of certain purchases, namely away from certain businesses that do not seem too light and can end up with a fake phone in our pocket. Such as purchases of second – hand distance, something we should carry out only users of our confidence because such transactions are unlikely claimable, although there are methods to do so.
It does not usually happen but a phone defendant may run out of stock. It is at this point that may arise doubtful credibility stores that put them on sale, mysterious stocks that may be real, hidden until now by pure speculation, or because it is counterfeit. The eBay auction system is given this kind of miraculous apparitions that invite impulse buying and turn out to be fakes.
Of course, it may seem terribly logical, we should not buy a second – hand mobile phone in person without seeing it before running. Not because it can be a false phone but because it is damaged, so simple and yet still occur scamming with this method. And now, lets see what we can look to us not the creep.
The grand council, beating with a thousand eyes
We have had a number of tricks to check if a phone is false or true, but having all this in mind and doing a thousand and one checks may finally let us be the subject of a scam, as there is nothing as infallible in what cases. However, any too careful and beating with a thousand eyes has never been a bad way to act.
Luckily, except in the case of unique or very specific discontinued terminals at a spectacular price models occasions, ways to get hold of a smartphone are many and varied. If you have any suspicion that the phone we are selling may be false, it is best to go to another vendor or other establishment.
