Instagram has a problem with Apple counterfeits, now the iPhone maker is hunting them down

If you find yourself spending a lot of time on Instagram, you’ve almost certainly seen ads for things like iPhone chargers, AirPods Pro, and more. Did you know that often these products are counterfeit, being sold by Chinese sellers and wholesale vendors?

Well, it’s true, and researcher Andrea Stroppa can attest to that, having purchased a third-party iPhone charger off of Instagram, only to have it literally explode. Now, he and his colleagues at Ghost Data Team are diving into the social site and discovering some startling information.

This comes from a new report on Bloomberg, which highlights the massive amount of third-party sales on the platform, often way cheaper than official Apple products. Some of these sellers are making up to and over $100,000 a day from these sales. Ghost Data tells Bloomberg:

“Our study aims at exposing Instagram’s difficulties, or unwillingness, to properly address its long-standing counterfeit market and also to highlight the many dangers of such illicit business for Apple and consumers alike,” the researchers said. Facebook is “guilty of failing to adequately invest and protect American businesses and citizens around the world who use its platform.“

In a statement to Bloomberg, Facebook refutes the claim, stating, “”We have devoted more resources to our global notice-and-takedown program, which has made us quicker in taking action,” the spokesperson said. “While there’s always more work to do, we now regularly respond to reports of counterfeit content within one day, and often within a matter of hours.”

Apple has also chimed in, noting that it has helped remove over a million listings from online marketplaces, including Instagram.

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Josiah Motley

Former KnowTechie editor.