Idaho, state of Gems, Potatoes, and making millions selling counterfeit phones

[Drak3]

https://idahonews.com/news/local/federal-agents-raid-treasure-valley-homes

 

Quote

Federal authorities say the arrest of suspects in a counterfeit cellphone ring will have national impact.

Several people have been indicted after federal agents raided various homes and businesses across the Treasure Valley.

The FBI came down to the land of potatoes to nab up some asshats looking to make a quick buck. Guess grabbing a pickaxe and going north of Idaho city just wasn't good enough.

 

Quote

The indictment says the group was accused of selling counterfeit Apple and Samsung phones on websites like Amazon and eBay. It says the items were purchases in bulk in Hong Kong then repackaged at two warehouses in the Treasure Valley.

Profits exceeded $10 million the indictment says.

So, it should be absolutely NO shock that Chinese business plays a role in this. The closest translations they have to "copyright" and "patent" are hysterical laughter. But the laid back people of Idaho? That's..... also not hugely surprising, with how fast Boise and Meridian are growing. All walks of life can be found now, including large scale conterfeiters.

 

Being familiar with the area, I can see why they chose the Treasure Valley to hide. People tend not to pry if they have no reason to. We have access to multiple ISPs, driving prices down and increasing profit. Cops are relatively chill if you're not speeding or swerving.

[aezakmi]

2 minutes ago, Drak3 said:

The closest translations they have to "copyright" and "patent" are hysterical laughter.

thanks to the chinese I and a lot of other folks can access to a mobile phone that's not from year 2000, high-end US or japanese devices are literally worth almost the same as a 2 door car in my country

everyone blames the chinese for copying and yes they do copy but they also offer affordable phones, a thing Samsung, LG or any other 'important' brand will never do.

[Drak3]

1 minute ago, aezakmi said:

they also offer affordable phones, a thing Samsung, LG or any other 'important' brand will never do.

Samsung is and has been known for overserving options in all price brackets. LG also has always offered cheap phones for damn near the entirety of their existance in the smartphone space.

 

The only large company that doesn't is Apple, and only for the fact that the one time they did offer a cheap phone, no one bought it.

[Egg-Roll]

People say buying a phone from places like Pacific Mall will be counterfeit... My S4 was not fake, nor was any phone in that entire mall (they were mostly USA phones, at the time of buying and afterwards)...

 

The saddest part is if you throw a S9/iPhone in someone's face for $450 "new", a normal person will see it as a steal, not "is it real".

 

14 minutes ago, Drak3 said:

LG also has always offered cheap phones for damn near the entirety of their existance in the smartphone space.

IMO a $350-500 phone has more dollar to performance value than any top tier phone going, sure you lack the "fancy" features and use a chip a few years old in performance, but if you break it you don't have to sell your kidney for a new one. (that comes after the 2nd/3rd phone )

Plus buying a mid range gives you the ability to buy a new phone every year w/o spending more than someone who gets a new one every 2 #NoBatteryIssues