After extensive research, security firm Bluebox Security and the manufacturer of the well-known smartphones Xiaomi, discovered that unofficial traders are selling fake, but quite convincing models of the popular Mi4.
This discovery was made following the related Bluebox report, which was particularly unflattering to the device, stating that it was being sold with pre‑installed adware and malware, and that it was already rooted. The device even had a security rating of 2.6.
Knowing the good reputation of the Chinese manufacturer, researchers suspected that they might have gotten their hands on a fake Mi4 device and started tests to verify its authenticity. However, it was quite difficult to reach a real conclusion because of the various elements the device had in the software.
Relying on CPU-Z benchmarking to evaluate the hardware and Xiaomi's application to determine the authenticity of the device, the researchers initially concluded that they had a genuine product.
However, it appears that the scammers made a truly great effort to conceal any evidence that would indicate the device was fake. They placed modified copies of the software evaluation applications and the device authenticity detection application into the software.
Identifying the fake Mi4 smartphone was not an easy process, as it involved checking the software by Xiaomi, checking the IMEI number and the Android operating system version.
During the security assessment of the device, which they had obtained directly from the manufacturer and knew it was authentic, the rating given by Bluebox reached 6.7, with several prospects for improvement in the next period.
