There is a lot of money in the cell phone and smartphone market and when money is involved there are always fraudsters looking to make quick profit from it.

Since high quality smartphones can cost thousands of naira it makes sense that you will want to search for the best deals on such devices. By using the suggestions in this guide and by keeping its advice in mind when
searching for a smartphone to buy you will be more likely to be able to spot a fake or imitation smartphones and avoid those types of devices. I hope this article helps you differentiate between the fake and original smartphone.
Clones and copies of actual smartphones are just that, clones and copies and these devices are meant to look like their legitimate counterparts.

As such finding reproductions is often meant to be a challenge. Make sure to review all of the suggestions in this article. You are going to want to pinpoint abnormal qualities in order to spot a fake smartphone.

Some clones might be spot on in some areas while lacking in others. Don’t check just a single feature on the phone and assume that it’s the real. Keep all of the following tips in mind when reviewing and assessing a smartphone; especially if the phone or deal for that phone seems too good to be true.

Branding

Most smartphones, especially expensive ones, are going to include some kind of branding. After all a brand helps show a products reputation as a
quality piece of merchandise.
So look for these brands somewhere on the phone.
Typically you can expect to see the name of the phones manufacture somewhere on the device. An iPhone is going to have an Apple name or logo somewhere on the device. Samsung is going to put “Samsung” somewhere on the device. This holds true with most of the well-known manufactures; Apple, Samsung, Sony, Motorola, LG, HTC, Blackberry, etc. They like to put their brand on their product and usually it’s in plain sight.
This often (but not always) includes the name of the phone as well or at least the name of that line or series of phone. You will likely see “XPERIA” branded somewhere on an Android smartphone produced by Sony. You’re going to run across the word “Galaxy” on Samsung’s line of Galaxy phones. “iPhone” on Apple’s smartphones. LG has their Optimus series. Motorola has their Atrix smartphones. Although for some reason while the name of the manufacture is usually well branded LG and Motorola have not chosen to brand the word “Optimus” or “Atrix” on their lines of smartphones for some reason…
So don’t always count on the name or model of that specific phone to be branded or shown on it but you should certainly seek out the name of the manufacture on just about every phone you encounter.
So for example, if someone is trying to sell you a Samsung Galaxy smartphone and that smartphone does not show the word SAMSUNG printed anywhere on the exterior of the phone itself then that phone is NOT a Samsung Galaxy phone and you should automatically assume that it’s a fake.

Genuine vs fake smartphones

Now that we have discussed branding this next tip is a fantastic tool and a great method to use when verifying if a smartphone is real or not. After all an imitation Samsung could just as easily say “Samsung” while not actually being a phone manufactured by Samsung. This is true for just about any smartphone clone or counterfeit.
So how can you tell the difference between a legitimate brand and a fabricated one?
Check to see how it feels. A genuine logo will almost always be flat and you will not be able to feel it at all. If the logo is raised and you can feel it when you run your finger over it then that phone is likely a counterfeit. That brand or logo should be smooth to the touch and you shouldn’t be able to feel a difference between it and the rest of the phone. If you run a fingernail across the manufactures name and you can feel your fingernail meet resistance because that name was painted on or is a decal or sticker that was applied to the phone then that phone is likely a phony.
This is a powerful tool to use when identifying a clone as a replica may be designed to look exactly like the genuine article but this little flaw can give it away as just another imitation.

Check the Device Identifier


Every genuine smartphone will have its own device identifier which is unique to that specific phone.
This number may be referred to as the phones IMEI (International Mobile Station Equipment Identity) or MEID (Mobile Equipment Identifier) number and you should be able to locate this unique number somewhere on the device. Many phones include this number printed on a sticker within the phones battery compartment. You can also sometimes find it by typing *#06# in the phones dialer as though you were dialing a telephone number, or within the phones settings.
This unique number can be used to verify the legitimacy of a smartphone and can also be used to determine if the phone was reported lost or stolen.
Counterfeit phones will not have a legitimate device identifier. It may not show one at all or it may show one that is fake.
If the device identifier in your phones settings, or dialer, does not match the device identifier printed on that label found on the exterior of your phone then there is a problem and you should be concerned.

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Good Tip...

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