A news report out of Baltimore demonstrates the level of counterfeit Apple products that are being sold right under our noses in malls, some of which undoubtedly share space with an Apple Store.

Officers said they raided the Cyberion store and the ST Tech Pros kiosk last Friday and recovered hundreds of fake Apple products that were being sold as authentic factory replacements.”These organizations that make these products are using substandard materials. They are doing everything they can to make them look like the real thing,” said Greg Shipley with the Maryland State Police.

While this particular bust may have been an isolated incident, if you’ve been to a US mall in the past few years, you’ve likely seen kiosks with fake Apple products. They are everywhere.

The items recovered from the Baltimore Mall included:

24 iPhones and the colored fronts and backings that go with them
Cellphone conversion kits
iPhone and iPad covers
Apple product ID stickers
iPad replacement screens
Various internal iPhone parts.
Packaging materials, equipment used to design and print those materials
Computer equipment believed to be used to clone phones.

“Our investigators believe that they were acting as some type of authorized Apple repair shop and they were taking Apple phones and replacing them with interior parts that were inferior, that were fake, that were not Apple products,” Shipley said.

According to the report, an Apple representative helped with the investigation by confirming that the products were indeed counterfeit. The estimated value of all the items was more than $89,000.

A counterfeit Apple AC adapter is believed to be responsible for the electrocution death of a Chinese woman. Apple responded to the situation by offering USB power replacements for people who unknowingly bought counterfeits.

Your local mall kiosk might be carrying fake Apple products