Fake phone charger is a multi-million dollar counterfeit industry on Instagram

In a report, a cybersecurity researcher and his team have highlighted the unchecked sale of counterfeit products on online social media platforms like Instagram. The research was triggered by a fake iPhone charger that exploded upon use by the researcher.

As various social media platforms turn to e-commerce to profit from their large user base, the practice of counterfeit sales online haunts them persistently. The same has now been highlighted in a new report by a cybersecurity researcher, triggered by a near-death experience he faced due to one such product. Andrea Stroppa, a cybersecurity researcher who works at Ghost Data Team, experienced a life scare due to one such counterfeit Apple product. As mentioned in a Bloomberg report, Stroppa had borrowed a friend's iPhone charger that exploded while being used last year. Stroppa's friend had bought the charger from an unofficial channel on Instagram. The incident shook Stroppa into action, which, along with his team, started investigating the availability of such products online. Compiling their results in a soon-to-be-released report, the Ghost Data Team found that such counterfeit products are being sold openly on Facebook and Instagram.