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RCMP Bust Cell Phone Repair Shops in Counterfeit Seizure

August 15, 2012 09:33 AM in News • 2 Comments

Counterfeit cell phone accessories seized by police in four separate raids in Winnipeg on Tuesday, August 14, 2012. (RCMP HANDOUT)

A large cache of counterfeit cell phone accessories and parts were seized from four Winnipeg retailers on Tuesday.

RCMP executed search warrants at cellular repair shops in the 500 and 600 block of Portage Avenue, the 500 block of St. Anne’s Road and a location at Kildonan Place Shopping Centre.

Police seized knock-off Apple, BlackBerry, Otterbox and Motorola accessories, including screens, speakers, cases and covers.

The specific retailers are not authorized to repair BlackBerry or Apple cell phones, say police. Neither BlackBerry or Apple sell repair parts to anyone, including authorized dealers.

A value on the items seized is still being tallied, but RCMP say it exceeds $100,000.

Tags: Cell Phone, Crime, Manitoba, RCMP

Katie

Big companies once again trying to make things harder for everyone. These stores are doing a good public service saving us $100′s on repairing our phones… Maybe if (Apple and Blackberry) Made it cheaper for us to fix this wouldn’t be a problem… but no they are HUGE money grabbers, and customer care means nothing to them!!!! Ive had my phone fixed a few times by these shops… sometimes for FREE (little problems) I will always stick beside the small businesses. Ridiculous
http://www.facebook.com/danzinger Nick Danzinger

Wait a second, so are these businesses still allowed to continue with their service or are they effectively shut down? Also, while Apple and Blackberry may not sell repair parts to anybody, there are many online retailers who purchase phones in bulk and disassemble them for their parts (see ifixit.com). If a phone is OUT OF WARRANTY, there should be no issues with people doing this sort of thing.