Carousell buyer pays $300 for AirPods that fail after a week, 2 arrested for selling counterfeits

Two people were arrested on Friday (March 17) for selling counterfeit Apple AirPods on Carousell, said police.

Stomper SL could be one of their victims. He had bought AirPods from Carousell in January. 

"The AirPod Pro 2 was listed on Carousell as brand new and sealed inside box," he said.

"The serial number was provided via chat to verify for Apple warranty online. Upon keying in the serial number, it did show that the AirPod Pro second generation had a valid 12-month warranty period.

"Arrangements were made to meet at Downtown East for the product sale. A young man of about mid-20s appeared with the sealed AirPod Pro 2 on hand. A payment of $300 transferred via PayNow to Get Technologies."

On the Apple Singapore website, they are currently priced at $362.35.

The Stomper said: "The AirPod Pro 2 was very well sealed and wrapped inside the ‘original’ packaging.

"After using it for a week, I realised that voice calls did not work well with the receiving party and the noise cancellation wasn’t working well. Music playback and other functions were still working.

"Upon checking with Apple Singapore, the serial number G25TYGDKWK was a defective Apple Pro 2 product and was previously replaced by a new replacement bearing serial number XV4MFXCYXF. The defective AirPod Pro 2 should have been returned to Apple Singapore upon the replacement and Apple was investigating the issue."

Police said in a statement on Saturday (March 18) that they have arrested two men, aged 26 and 31, for their suspected involvement in a series of e-commerce scams involving the sale of counterfeit AirPods on Carousell.

"Between March 11 and 15, the police received several reports lodged by victims who suspected that they were cheated into purchasing counterfeit AirPods on Carousell. The counterfeit AirPods were represented as authentic and deceptively packaged in sealed boxes with serial numbers.

"However, after the victims received the products, the items were found to be counterfeits," said police.

"Through follow-up investigations, officers from Bedok Police Division established the identities of the two men and arrested them. Eighteen boxes of counterfeit Apple AirPods and three mobile phones were seized as case exhibits."

The men were to be charged in court on Saturday with the offence of cheating which carries an imprisonment term of up to 10 years and a fine.

If you have information related to such crimes or if you are in doubt, please call the police Hotline at 1800-255-0000, or submit it online at www.police.gov.sg/iwitness.

For more information on scams, you can visit www.scamalert.sg or call the Anti-Scam Hotline at 1800-722-6688.