If your iPhone charger blows up, it may be a fake sold on Instagram

Stroppa’s interest in the Apple product situation began last year when the charger exploded while he was on vacation at Capri, Italy. — Background photo created by jcomp - www.freepik.com

A simple, daily gesture like charging an iPhone turned into a life-threatening task for Andrea Stroppa, a cybersecurity researcher. The charger that exploded after he borrowed it from a friend, Stroppa discovered, was a counterfeit Apple Inc product bought through an unofficial channel on Instagram.

Stroppa and his colleagues at Ghost Data Team, a cybersecurity, social-media research firm, looked into the incident and found he was far from alone. Chinese illicit factories and wholesale vendors are using the Facebook Inc app to sell fake Apple accessories such as AirPods, lightning cables, iPhone batteries and USB power adapters.