Maybe some here call me stupid or just laugh their ass off, but I think this can help others to avoid being fooled. So let me tell you guys my story and how I wasted a whole weekend, to buy a phone and almost lost RM 2500.

The plan was to buy new phones for our little company. We are three and all of us are using Android phones. But all have one in common, they are fairly old. The plan was to be "always online", with new postpaid contracts and better phones. The combo offers from Digi, Maxis and Co suck - so we decided to better buy the phones separately.

The Galaxy SIII sounded interesting, but might be more phone we need to a price between RM 1890 to RM 2199. A Galaxy SII would be fine too, or even better the Galaxy Nexus. It matches with some specs with the Galaxy SIII and is about RM 150 cheaper than a Galaxy SII. I found a good shop in Subang via Lelong, the Nexus was offered for RM 1198,- with some freebies. So I suggested to my partner (it was Thursday) to go Friday evening to the Shop and get three Galaxy Nexus for RM 1200 a piece. But he was busy and heard, that a friend of a good friend, bought a Galaxy SII for RM 750. I was surprised, the lowest I was able to find was RM 1350. Suddenly the Nexus looked like an expensive option for him and I agreed to go on Saturday Morning to Digital Mall. The place where he believed the IT guy of one of our customers, also bought his SII weeks ago for also stunning RM 900.

It is Satuday around 11:45 and we arrive at Digital Mall. I ask in every shop about the Galaxy SII and the Nexus. Nobody had the Nexus in stock and the price for Galaxy SII was between 1350 and 1480. Not a surprise I thought and told my partner, that his friend bought a whatever Samsung Galaxy, but not a SII. But he was still convinced. I started to get fed up of that and told him to get the guy on the phone. It took some time to get the guy who new the lucky man with the RM 750 Galaxy SII. He provided him the phone number and t hat guy confirmed, its an Galaxy SII and he didn't buy it at digital mall. He explained us, he bought it at the entrance of petaling street. Next to a bridge, there is a shop with a big SAMSUNG sign. He also told us, that he is very happy with his SII. But the manual was french, so maybe thats the explanation for the low price. It might be, that its meant to be for the french market.

Around 1:30pm we arrived at China Town and with the help of this guy over the phone, we managed to find the shop. I thought this is a big mobile shop, which must be crowded with customers. Selling re-imported or reconditioned mobile sets for insanely low prices. But it was just a small mini shop in front of a mall. The whole ground floor of the mall full of mobile phone shops.

So we asked the guy for the price of a Galaxy SII. He replied "Just RM 650". We booth looked at each other. My partner and friend smiling, I rather in disbelief. He was right, I was wrong. I asked about the Nexus and he has stock for RM 800. Another surprise. So my partner dared to ask for the holy mobile phone grail: "How much is the Galaxy SIII?" "The Galaxy SIII is RM 1100, Hari Raya Promo", wtf? "And if we buy three?", my partner responded. "Then I can make RM 1000 one set". In disbelief, I asked to try one set. He came back with a Galaxy SIII in a Samsung box. I switched on the phone after inserting the battery and was greeting with the typical Samsung splash screen and boot sequence. The screen contrast look great and the display high resolution. Android felt snappy and fast, all checks on the phone proved its a real Samsung SIII. But the case looked cheap. I never checked out the SIII so much, I was looking for the Nexus before. I also asked for a Nexus set, which started with its typical boot animation and all info through settings was correct. I asked "Is this a real SIII?" The salesman responded "Friend! Come on lah. Not to worry. All original... you see or not?" Then I noticed no 16GB internal memory, but the salesman destroyed my concerns and showed me that no memory card was yet inserted. I was sceptical, the set had a charger from a company callled "Anycom". We found out a South American mobile phone provider, some labels on the box were in spanish. We left with 3 Samsung Galaxy SIII for RM 1000 and a receipt. The conversation while driving back home was, why it was so cheap. Maybe some grey imported stuff meant for the south american mobile provider. Maybe fake? But how can he have three different Samsung models looking like real one, we thought thats impossible. At about 3pm, I reached my place.

Back at home, the first thing was to connect to my wifi and install a benchmark from the market. I used the quadrant benchmark and I noticed even without doing the full test, that something is wrong here. The screen resolution was 854*480. The SIII has an HD display with 1280*720 pixels. After running the benchmark, it became evident, that the phone just gets a third of the originals performance. Also the internal memory was already full, after installing 5 programs from the market. It became more than clear, that this is a fake. (http://www.phonesreview.co.uk/2012/07/10/hdc-galaxy-s3-fake-is-not-real-samsung-model/)

I called my partner and explained to him, we decided to go back and have a serious conversation with that guy. At about 5pm I was again in a car, heading to china town...

Ok, as this is getting long, let me say thats the end of Part 1. Let me know if you like to hear the rest of the story. It ends on Sunday at about 7pm :-)

This post has been edited by HolgiB: Aug 30 2012, 02:24 PM

Ok, continuing...

At about 5:30/5:45pm on Saturday evening we are back at the place. I told my partner to have the camera app ready on his phone, the first thing to do, is snapping a picture from the salesman. A skinny chinese chap in his late twenties. We also noticed, that there was bigger shop inside the mall, where this one belonged to. He was running inside from time to time to get the boxes...

I was worried, that the salesman was not there and the other guy who was there behind the counter might also suffer from memory loss. But he was there and not really surprised to see us again. "You sold us FAKES!", I told him right away. "Come on, you checked and all Ok." "But now I checked better and it is FAKE. You can refund or change into original phones!" The salesman laughed "You only payed 3000 and want three original SIII set. Hahahah!!", all of the sudden for him it was clear to be fake.

For him RM 3000 must be a good margin. The fake SIII might be a $100 or maximum $150 USD. So he buys the fake for something like a ~ RM 400 and earns stunning RM 600 per sale. To make a fair change now, will be painful for him. I also want to mention, that we were amazed that the salesman was cold blooded enough to sell us 3 fakes for a RM 3000 together, without any warning.

So the bargaining started, we went back and forth. My partner took a picture of him and he noticed it. I threatened with police, but he said he didn't care at all. But then stopped the conversation with the words "Lets not waste any more time and get some original sets for you" He returend with one Galaxy SII which he promised to be original. We considered buying three of them for RM 1400, as the guy refused to refund us. My partner was in love with the SII, but I was looking for the Nexus. It has HD screen and I like it a lot more. He said that we have to topup another RM 1600 for two Nexus and one SII. His price for Nexus was RM 1599 and showed us a chinese mobile phone magazine, displaying that price. That was the highest I have ever seen for a Nexus. I told him that I would buy an AP set (AP set = Original, but from other country. Many here are from SG. Only warrany is different). He let me confirm "Are you sure? AP set? Not Original?" I confirmed and told him, that AP set is basically an orignal set. But many mobile phones guys making the difference like that. The price of an Nexus AP set was RM 1250. Still 50 more, but to finally get I was after and limiting the damage, I let him get two Nexus AP set for me.

After being fooled once with a fake, I checked the Nexus carefully. Before I left, I checked the internet before, to get some tips how to find out whether its fake or not. Some said, the display is not glass from the fakes. Also the touch not capacitive. So a finger nail would work, which shouldn't. First thing I was after, was the 16 GB internal mem. It was theres. The touch was capacitive and glass. The casing this time, look high quality. Carefully I checked the box and the accessories. There was the original little Samsung Travel charger, but with european plug. The headphones and all booklets and stuff. The box itself looked expensive and well made. I thought about getting it online to download Quadrant Benchmark, but my Digi prepaid I was still on, only had a 0.80 credit left. For about half an hour I checked the phone and was convinced that it is genuine. I asked the salesman "Is this a china phone or not?" He replied "No china phone of course!". We topped up another RM 900 and left with two Nexus, one SII and a receipt stating two "Not Original Nexus". It was already 8:10pm when I was back at my place. All the discussing and incredibly long waiting time when the guy left to look for a phone, let the day quickly go over.

With the SII from my partner I was sure that it was genuine. I hoped the same for the two Nexus, at least I paid even a 50 more. I also thought, that the guy wouldn't fool me a second time.

Again I installed Quadrant benchmark and mu heart was going faster. Checked the screen resolution "854*480" and was tempted to throw the phone against a wall. Again fake! Running the benchmark revealed, that my "new phone" is slightly slower than my old phome "Motorola Milestone". I called my partner and informed him, we both thought that it might be hard to achieve anything and getting the money back/change phone again. He was smart enough to write "Not Original" on the receipt. I decided to go the next day again to the shop and try my luck. Now it was already 8:45pm, too late to get back

Ok, part 3 and the end of the story to follow :-)

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Added on August 30, 2012, 3:07 pmThats the problem! We felt like a kid in candy store at the moment I guess. But these fakes might be sold just for 10% less and it will be hard to discover that its fake. The frined with the RM 750 SII still believes he made a great catch :-)

This post has been edited by HolgiB: Aug 30 2012, 03:12 PM

The results of my tests were devastating. I am the type of guy, who loves his gadgets. I bought my Motorola Milestone as an AP set from a shop in Low Yat 3 years ago. It is of course not a fake and I took great care of it. Without a screen protector, you can't find a scratch on it. It is rooted and has of course the latest CM on it. The purchase of my "new baby" is something I really celebrated. I was exited to get a Galaxy Nexus and retire the Milestone. Now RM 2500 are wasted. The fake S3 was at least usable. But this will have lags and certainly no fun to use. I knew I had to get rid of them with least damages as possible and find a way to finally get what I want. This time I studied the specs and printed out some offers from Lelong, stating the price RM 1200. I also printed out some police information and a page from a blog, explaining the difference between AP set and Original set.

On Saturday at around 11:40/12:00 I was heading again to China Town. This time without the support of another guy, instead my wife with my 7 year old son was with me. My wife can make some feel really uncomfortable, believe me. I know what I am talking about :-). This time we took a different way, passing the police HQ. Spontaneously I decided to go to the HQ. Its along the way and maybe I can get some advise and an officer ready to drop by, if necessary. But the HQ is not a police station in common sense, but some officers outside spoke with me and told me to go to the next police station, certainly I will get help. Well I thought thats sort of complicate and I will try my luck on my own first.

At almost 1pm we arrived at the place. I was almost certain that the salesman this time will not be around. But I had luck, he was there. This time my temper was a bit heated up. I banged the bag with the two Nexus boxes on the table and told him "I cannot believe you fooled us again, these are FAKES!! FAKES from china!!" "I don't know your problem lah. I told you not original. Not orignal set. You checked!" "Its an AP set you told me but its not. I bought two Galaxy Nexus and these are noteven Galaxy Nexus!", I responded. It went back and forth. Then he left and after 20 minutes he returned with an original(?) Galaxy Note and banged in on the table "Here! Take this" I said "What??" "Thats original and RM 2000", he replied. I told him, the phones are RM 2500 and nobody asked for a Galaxy Note. He explained that it is a company rule, that after one day when a mobile is returned, they have to deduct 20%. So he wants to steal RM 500 basically. I explained to him, that there are laws and I know what a customer can do. And one thing is returning something within at least 48 hours and no deduction is allowed. First comes the law, then company rules. He insisted and then I started to shout. My wife joined. People passing by stopped, other on the steps to the mall turned around. We got quite some attention. Threatening with police made no difference, but maybe he became afraid of me. Or it was the situation. Then he said suddenly "Hey, no problem lah. I want you to be happy!!" This time I was sure, that I don't want to top up ANYTHING.

The whole place had only one original Galaxy Nexus. so we had a Nexus and an original SII on the table. This time my Digi card was with sufficient credit. I subscribed to 3 RM internet a day and checked the SII with Quadrant Benchmark. Everything fine. The Nexus convinced me on first sight. The screen was so stunning, but I thought better do the Quadrant check. It turned out that the Nexus wouldn't accept any SIM card. It was sim locked... The guy disappeared again and already 3 hours have passed by at this time. He also asked again for topup while we were checking, looking for another RM 480.

When he returned another 30 minutes later, he told us no Nexus and gave us a HTC Desire HD. Nobody was interested in this phone, but now I just thought about limiting the damage. He said topup another RM 300 and you get the original SII and the Desire. I told him "Listen, I was looking for Galaxy Nexus and nothing else. I already payed RM 1250, more than its actual price (showing again the printouts) and now I am buying her two phone I don't want". He hesitated a while and responded "Ok, no topup". So my wife (the 3rd party in our little company) was happy with the SII. I thought I will go to the shop in Subang (my initial plan), trade in the Desire and get my Nexus finally. The balance between trade in price for the Desire and the price of the Nexus (RM 1198) will be the damage for being so stupid, buying a phone on that place.

So we left this unfortunate place at about 5:30pm after a short rest at Starbucks and drove to Subang. Via SMS I got from that shop the price and availability confirmed. Also a trade in is possible. We arrived there at about 6:10pm. The offer for trade in was disappointing, just RM 350 for a new Desire still in its box. I decided to keep it and rather sell it here or at Mudah. The shop was crowded btw and I was not the only one taking a drive to Subang, to get a Nexus.

The friendly sales man handed over a sealed box to me, which looked 99% the same like the fake one. But the differnce was the seal and that the box was in the inside with the different Google color. At least the edges of the carton box. Also a clear sticker was on the display with some advices. In the battery compartment some stickers from Samsung. Yes, this was an original. I spared the Quadrant check, filled out the warranty card (I get 24 Months), collected my freebies and left. Now it was 6:25pm

On the way back I was finally excited about my new Nexus. We drove to 1 Utama to have dinner there and reached there at 7pm. Thats where the adventure ends for me.

The Nexus has passed all checks. Its absolutely original. There was one thing which would have been easy to spot on the fake Nexus. It had an SD card slot. The original doesn't! What's the moral form the story? Well the simplest one is of course, never buy a phone in China Town. Be careful when the price is too low. But the latter one not always applies, I bought my PSP about 5 years ago RM 400 cheaper than a good friend. I was comfortable buying a Japanese one, it was identical to hos after changing the language.

I wrote all this to show the psychology behind it a bit and that every average person can fall into a trap like that. The technical aspect is also interesting. There are really damn good fakes out there. It might also help to know, how these gangster "tick". And what strategies they follow. Well, draw your own conclusions :-).

Hope you guys enjoyed reading!

Even better, I am part time software developer and senior Linux admin :-). I can hand you one fake Nexus, if you don't own one you will not be able to identify it as fake. Only with addiotional software.

I am like you, thinking how stupid people are, buying a bloody fake phone. With Android things became easier for the fakers.

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Added on August 30, 2012, 4:07 pmWould have been smarter. But I am believing into the good of the people.

This post has been edited by HolgiB: Aug 30 2012, 04:07 PM

Thanks, thats a good information!!

Thats what we tried initially. But he refused. His excuse was, that he bought the phones for us from a different shop/wholesaler at that spot. Not his money is in this phones and he can't/will not refund us.

Only with police we might have been able, to get a refund. But maybe for that we need to make a police report and the whole thing goes into court. Refund in 6 months, plus costs of a lawyer?

Refunding you is the last thing, these guys would do.

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Added on August 30, 2012, 4:14 pmYes could be. Well in his chinese mobile magazine it was RM 1350

Btw, the desire HD is really not bad. But no official ICS.

This post has been edited by HolgiB: Aug 30 2012, 04:14 PM

For me this was the first time, coming across a fake. I was not aware, that there is such a variety available.

I remember we found a website with about twenty (!) different models from all sort of manufacturers. All Android.

Well it was two times in a row, but the story split into three parts. You are easy to confuse, same advice to you :-)

Of course it could be all. I am an Android fan... But Android source is available (which is good), but makes it easy to create an image to run on fake hardware and still looking like original.

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Added on August 30, 2012, 4:37 pmI can ask my partner, guess he still has the photo and I will post it.

This post has been edited by HolgiB: Aug 30 2012, 04:37 PM