Fake iPhone 18 Deal Sites Are Stealing Money From Shoppers
Criminals are setting up convincing fake shops to target anyone searching for a cheaper price on Apple's new iPhone 18 Pro and foldable Duo. If you pay, the phone never arrives.
Key points
- Fraudsters are running fake retail websites offering the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Duo foldable at prices hundreds of pounds below Apple's official cost.
- Victims are directed to pay by bank transfer, a method that offers almost no consumer protection if the seller disappears.
- The scam exploits the gap between Apple's launch-day excitement and the iPhone 18 Pro's £1,199 starting price.
- No specific regulator filing or breach-notification letter has emerged at time of writing; the pattern was first reported by The Guardian Technology.
What is actually happening?
Criminals have built websites that look like legitimate electronics retailers and stocked them with listings for the iPhone 18 Pro and the new foldable iPhone 18 Duo, both announced by Apple just recently. The sites appear in search results when shoppers type something like "cheap iPhone deal" hoping to find a discount. They don't.
The price shown is typically a couple of hundred pounds below the Apple Store. That gap is the bait. A shopper who clicks through sees a professional-looking page, adds the phone to a basket, and is asked to pay by bank transfer rather than by card. Bank transfers sent to a fraudulent account are almost impossible to reverse. The phone never ships.
Why is a bank transfer dangerous here?
Paying by bank transfer, as opposed to a credit or debit card, strips away the protections most people take for granted. Card payments in the UK carry chargeback rights, meaning your bank can claw the money back if goods don't arrive. A transfer to a stranger's account carries no such right. Once the money leaves, recovery depends on your bank acting quickly under the Contingent Reimbursement Model voluntary code, and that is far from guaranteed.
This is a deliberate choice by the fraudsters. They steer buyers away from cards specifically because cards create a paper trail and a reversal route.
Should anyone buying a new iPhone worry?
Not if they stick to trusted sellers. The risk is concentrated among people who search broadly for discounts and land on an unfamiliar site. A few checks take less than two minutes.
| Check | What to look for |
|---|---|
| Retailer name | Is it a known high-street or authorised Apple reseller? |
| Payment method offered | Cards only, or is bank transfer pushed? |
| Price gap | More than 10-15% below Apple's price is a red flag |
| Contact details | A physical UK address and a working phone number |
| Domain age | Free tools such as WHOIS show if a site launched last week |
The pattern here is old but reliable for the criminals running it: a popular, expensive product launches, impatient shoppers want a bargain, fake shops appear overnight. The iPhone 18 range is simply the current hook.
What should affected shoppers do?
Report the transfer to your bank immediately and quote the Authorised Push Payment, or APP, fraud category. APP fraud is where someone is tricked into willingly sending money to a criminal. Report the site to Action Fraud (in England, Wales and Northern Ireland) or Police Scotland. The Advertising Standards Authority and the National Cyber Security Centre both accept reports of fake shopping sites and use them to push domains offline.
If you paid by card and the goods didn't arrive, raise a chargeback with your card provider straight away. Don't wait.
