Thursday 24 October 2013

The unreal deal: How to ID phony phones, counterfeit CPUs, and other tech traps

Description

Technology world is full of risks as tech traps are prevalent day by day. What to do now?? Well, this is very important to differentiate between real and fake. If you are trusting any app and it is not real then it can infect your business devices with malware. 

Solution:

Let’s have a look on the five most important market segments:

Smartphones and tablets

Smartphones-1

Beware of counterfeits while purchasing smartphones and tablets. Fraudsters target this market frequently. Street-vendor items are usually fakes. To fool you, a scammer purchases an item, unwrap it and replace it with fake one. After that, return it to the store for refund. According to many users, it is easy to spot fake phones and tablets. Its weight, case, button fitting and its finish is not as the real one. In a fake phone, you may find several useless apps installed.

CPUs, RAM, motherboards, and graphics cards

Components like microprocessors, RAM modules, and graphics cards are easy to replace with fake ones. Scammers may paint and label the real ones to fool customers. Also, they can sell used or damaged products as new. For spotting repainted and relabeled products, you need lab-grade equipment. Always look for every tiny detail like color, label markings, etc.

Headphones

Selling counterfeit headphones is a very common task. If you are buying headphones from street vendors without retail packaging then you need to check it carefully. If a seller offers a discount then it is suspicious. Also, you should check its packaging carefully. 

Packaged software

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According to Microsoft, counterfeit software will fail in online validation. In high-end packaged software, check for a valid certificate of authenticity. In Microsoft products, you can find holographic or color-shifting ink features. Make sure that the hologram should be printed on disc. For identifying Microsoft products, the most important security feature is present on the outer band of an optical disc. There you can find “Microsoft” label that changes into “Genuine” as you shift the disc in the light.

Mobile apps

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Apart from physical-software counterfeiting, mobile apps are also in the list of counterfeiting. Counterfeit apps are not only for getting quick bucks from you but also for making your phone malware infected. The most common way is to take a paid app, break it down and add malware. After that, offer it for free. Obviously, people will go for it. Thus, always download apps from a trusted source like iTunes, Google Play, Amazon, or the Microsoft Store. Check the app for developer’s name. Also, check it for ratings and reviews. Android users should install a security app for monitoring of mobile device. 
Counterfeiting is increasing day by day. Therefore, be careful and stay safe. For more from the XpertCrewTM team, please follow us on Twitter @Techvedic or contact Techvedic’s computer support helpdesk, as per below contact-details: 
U.S. +855-859-0057 (http://www.techvedic.com/ )
U.K. +800-635-0716 (http://www.techvedic.co.uk/ )
CA 1-855-749-5861 (http://www.techvedic.ca/ )
AU 1-800-197-298 (http://www.techvedic.com.au/ )

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