How Carousell buyer fell for fake $260 AirPods despite red flags: 'I let my guard down'
A man bought what he believed was a new pair of AirPods on Carousell – only to discover that they were fake despite appearing almost identical to the real deal.
Stomper Ant fell for the scam despite having his suspicions and trying to be cautious.
He said he was browsing Carousell on Nov 28 when he came across a listing selling 'AirPods Pro Gen 3' for $260.
"The seller stated it's a brand new and unopened set," Ant said. "It's a very good deal considering that a brand new one retails for $349 at iStudio, and the price wasn't too low to be suspicious."
Ant messaged the seller to enquire. He first asked if the set was "brand new unopened?", and the seller replied yes.
When Ant asked if there was a receipt, the seller said he did not have one because it was a gift.
"That was the first red flag," the Stomper recounted. "But to get assurance from him, I told him as long as it's authentic can already – which he replied yes."
Before agreeing to the meetup, Ant asked if the seller accepted PayNow.
"The second red flag was that he asked for cash payment," he said. "But it's not uncommon for people to accept only cash, so I enquired further."
Ant then requested to test the AirPods before payment and the seller agreed. They arranged a meetup at Block 185 Bukit Batok West Avenue 6.
"While on the way, I still had doubts since there are risks involved when dealing on Carousell, so I once again requested to test the set before payment," Ant said.
The seller again agreed and reassured Ant of the product's authenticity.
The two met at the lift lobby of the block.
"The seller was a young male, around 15 to 17 years old. Upon seeing him, I felt more assured that such a young guy wouldn't have the audacity to cheat and scam people, so naturally I let my guard down," said Ant.
"I took one brief look at the AirPods and it looked legit, just like in the pictures. I didn't open it to test and just handed him the agreed amount of $260," he said.
After leaving the meetup, Ant tested the AirPods on his iPhone.
"It was able to connect without much hassle, and it appeared as AirPods Pro on my phone like a legit set," he added.
He then checked the warranty status.
"I was pleasantly shocked when I saw the Apple warranty was already registered on Sept 16. Instantly, I suspected something was fishy, I thought maybe it was a used set sold as brand new."
He messaged the seller again, who reassured him it was indeed brand new and that the warranty had been activated earlier by the person who bought it.
"I kind of accepted it at that moment," said Ant.
But when Ant tested the audio quality, he became increasingly suspicious.
"As I previously owned AirPods 4, I'm well aware of the good sound quality. This one sounded inferior – even my original AirPods 4 sounded better," he said.
He began researching and learned that sophisticated counterfeit AirPods can clone serial numbers from genuine units.
"That's why my fake set was able to connect like a real one, show Apple warranty, and even use features like active noise cancellation. It's almost 95% similar to the real AirPods."
The Stomper then tested specific functions to confirm his doubts.
"I learned that if the AirPods Pro 3 heart rate sensor is not working, it's most probably fake. I tested it and it wasn't working," Ant said.
He added that the firmware was stuck on a previous version and could not update – another sign of a counterfeit.
"The final giveaway was that under 'Find My', the fake AirPods could only show the location of the left and right earbuds but not the charging case."
With all these signs, Ant messaged the seller again to say the set was fake.
"Once again, he feigned innocence and asked me to bring it to the Apple Store to check. I asked him the golden question again – whether it was a real set – and he said yes again."
Using the serial number, Ant booked a service appointment with Apple.
"On the day of the appointment, I told the Apple service advisor that I think I'd been cheated. She took one look – less than 10 seconds – and said, 'Sorry sir, I think this is non-authentic," he recalled.
A certified Apple technician was then called in.
"Same thing. Less than a few seconds, she confidently declared it non-authentic as well. She said she would furnish me with an official report so I can pursue recourse."
Ant then attempted to contact the seller for a refund but received no reply.
"I think he has ghosted me and most probably blocked me on Carousell," he said.
He has since lodged a police report and filed a report with Carousell.
In response to a Stomp query, the police confirm that a report was lodged.
Ant said: "I've also considered making a Magistrate's complaint. I don't want him to grow up into an irresponsible man. If he gets away scot-free at just 16, he'll think scamming people of their hard-earned money is easy."
The Stomper hopes sharing his experience will prevent others from being cheated.
"It may be a small amount of money, but if our future generation can think of scamming people at such a young age, I seriously worry. They could even be used by syndicates operating behind the scenes."
