Apple has stepped up efforts to stop a growing scam involving product returns at its official stores. Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman reports that some of these thefts are organized: people — acting alone or in groups — buy iPhones or other devices, remove chargers and earbuds, strip out certain parts or even take the phone itself, then return only the packaging to get a refund from Apple. The removed accessories and spare parts are then resold on the secondhand market.
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When a box has been opened, Apple employees already inspect the contents and test the device to make sure everything works. The tricky part has been truly sealed boxes. For a time, Apple would accept returns of apparently unopened products without extra checks, until it discovered that fraudsters had been reproducing Apple’s adhesive seals. Such stickers are easy to obtain — sold in bulk on some websites — and they can convince both Apple Store staff and lax third‑party resellers that a package has never been opened.
As a stopgap, Apple told store teams to break seals and open iPhone boxes and other product packaging to confirm the items are undamaged, even when the external seal looks untampered. But that creates a logistical headache: once a package is opened, the product cannot immediately be placed back on the shelf as new. Instead it must be sent back to a central processing facility before it can be put up for sale again.
According to Gurman, Apple has developed a more streamlined approach that is being rolled out across its retail locations. The company is using its Presto station to check an iPhone’s hardware status without unsealing the package. Presto, introduced a couple of years ago, is essentially a locker-style unit with guides that position a phone so an NFC reader can interact with it, triggering the device to power on and update iOS. That system was previously used to display a user’s name on initial setup for the iPhone Duo, and it’s now being repurposed to “scan a boxed iPhone and run diagnostics to verify that it’s completely intact,” all while leaving the packaging closed so the device can immediately be returned to inventory.
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Ethan Rivers focuses on Android smartphones, emerging mobile platforms, and operating systems. With a critical yet fair perspective, he evaluates devices on performance, design, and ecosystem compatibility.