While many people are looking for ways to save money when purchasing an iPhone by weighing up contracts versus PAYG, we do not recommend putting your faith, or cash, into the above iPhone. It may look like the real deal but it's a damn fine fake from China.
The Chinese are masters at faking it, taking just about any technology gadget and fabricating excellent looking doubles. It will probably short circuit or burst into flames after a few days but at least it looked good and cost peanuts.
The photo above was sent into a forum by a Canadian user who's Dad bought it in China recently and who then encountered some 'problems' activating his new present through iTunes. The fake is a very good one and despite some minor differences - measurements are a bit off and there's a USB instead of a dock connector - the icons are all there, including an odd penguin-one for launching a Chinese game.
The packaging also looks authentic. No idea what Dad paid but it's bound to have cost a fraction of the real iPhone and, will probably last a fraction of the time too. Dad bought three of them as presents, making Dad (a) innocent tourist shopping mug or (b) a real cheapskate. See more shots below.