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Have I bought a fake iphone?

My iphone died and, because i was on an overseas business trip (in the UK) and needed a phone urgently, I bought an iphone SE (2nd generation) from an independent phone shop. Maybe a mistake.


I was told the phone was new and would be covered by Applecare for 12 months. I have activated the phone, but when I check mysupport.apple.com, it says the support has expired. Weirdly, it also says the date of purchase is 1985. It correctly identifies the phone as SE (2nd generation).


Have I:

  1. bought an old / used phone? (But presumably not 37 years old!)
  2. bought a stolen phone?
  3. bought a fake iphone?
  4. been taken for a fool?
  5. or just screwed up the activation?


What should I do?

  • Go back to the dealer. (I'm only in town for 1.5 days, so might be tricky)?
  • Ask my credit card provider to cancel the payment?
  • Ask Apple to update the purchase date? (I only have a credit card receipt)


I appreciate any help you can give!

Posted on Apr 7, 2022 12:34 PM

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Posted on Apr 7, 2022 12:40 PM

Probably just a glitch with the date of sale from Apple. If it can be found by mysupport.apple.com and correctly identified then its a real device. Or at least a real serial number for an SE.


Try updating proof of purchase for it and see if it then correctly identifies the warranty. Link-> Update your proof of purchase - Apple Support


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Apr 7, 2022 12:40 PM in response to twfmike

Probably just a glitch with the date of sale from Apple. If it can be found by mysupport.apple.com and correctly identified then its a real device. Or at least a real serial number for an SE.


Try updating proof of purchase for it and see if it then correctly identifies the warranty. Link-> Update your proof of purchase - Apple Support


Apr 7, 2022 1:59 PM in response to twfmike

If it was an independent non-Apple Authorized seller then it was NOT retail new since such stores have no access to Apple wholesale products. So it was either used/gray market. Since the warranty started on the date it was originally sold by Apple or an Apple Authorized Seller, the warranty may well be expired. The warranty starts from the legitimate date of first new retail sale whether the box is opened and the device used or not.



Apr 8, 2022 2:11 PM in response to Michael Black

Michael Black wrote:

If it was an independent non-Apple Authorized seller then it was NOT retail new since such stores have no access to Apple wholesale products. So it was either used/gray market. Since the warranty started on the date it was originally sold by Apple or an Apple Authorized Seller, the warranty may well be expired. The warranty starts from the legitimate date of first new retail sale whether the box is opened and the device used or not.


I've seen some really bizarre setups, and I'm not quite sure if Apple has cracked down on it or they don't really care. I bought a Mac once from an independent Apple specialist. But when I made the purchase, the receipt was for an Apple Authorized Reseller about 20 miles away. They said they didn't specifically have a resale agreement with Apple, but they worked with an authorized reseller to act as their "agent" such that everything they sold had a full warranty.

Apr 11, 2022 8:59 AM in response to y_p_w

In the USA at least, it would be illegal for one independent company to issue a sales receipt claiming to be from another independent company. That would be fraud.


And I am pretty sure that the Apple Authorization program does not allow any authorized seller to partner with another, non-authorized seller to distribute Apple products. That would defeat the very point of an Apple authorized network of sellers and service providers.


Either way, I know I would have walked away from that deal and never done business ever again with that so-claimed Apple specialist dealer.

Have I bought a fake iphone?

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