Apple iPhone 15 boxes come with ‘invisible’ watermarks to prevent scams

It’s not only iPhones that are getting upgrades this year, but their packaging as well.

In a bid to beat scammers, Apple’s iPhone 15 boxes feature tiny icons that hide in plain sight. The miniature holographic labels are only visible under ultraviolet light.

With the new smartphones now available to buy, people have started sharing videos of the stamps online.

A pair of the stickers can be seen on the back of an iPhone 15 box in a clip posted on Twitter by tech researcher and creator Majin Bu. The video shows someone using a UV light torch to reveal the watermarks and a QR code that helps to verify their authenticity.

The new security feature is part of Apple’s ongoing battle against counterfeit products. In the past, crooks have been caught selling fake iPhones and accessories worth millions in the UK and US.

Even Apple has fallen prey to the scams. Last year, US law enforcement sentenced a Chinese national to 26 months in prison for tricking Apple into replacing fake iPhones with real ones through its warranty scheme.

To clamp down on fugazis, Apple has previously released iPhone alerts for dodgy AirPods and issued a support article on how to identify knock-off Beats headphones.

Now it’s taking the fight to fake iPhone sellers with its concealed security stamps. Of course, there is a chance that scammers will try to copy the labels to make their fakes look even more genuine.

But, replicating them may not be as simple as producing similar tags. Firstly, they contain QR codes that would need to be authenticated by a system. Holograms also feature highly intricate and extremely small patterns that are difficult to copy.

If you’re buying an iPhone directly from Apple, you can rest easy that it’s the real deal. But, if you’re purchasing a second-hand or refurbished device, then there are few checks you can do to confirm if it’s legit.

Before you buy, make sure to thoroughly research the phone online by watching a few video reviews. Then, when you see it in person, you can identify if its exterior design and software matches up. Don’t forget to test it out first, too.

Fakes are one thing, but you can also confirm if a phone is blacklisted or stolen by cross-referencing its serial number. This is officially known as an International Mobile Equipment Identification number (IMEI), and can be found in the about section of a phone’s settings menu or by typing *#06# into the phone’s dialer. Entering this number on the imei.info website will reveal the handset’s status.