A few weeks ago Apple warned about counterfeit iPhone cords and chargers, and the overheating and fire risks they can present.
Now one woman wants everyone to know the risks of buying non Apple-certified accessories, saying she's lucky her house didn't burn down.
'I just heard an explosion'
Katie Skerchock grabbed her iPhone one recent morning, with no idea what was about to happen.
"My alarm was going off Saturday morning, and like clockwork. I pulled the charger from my phone," she said, explaining that this is what she does every morning.
She dropped the cord next to her nightstand, as usual, but couldn't believe what happened next.
"I just heard an explosion," she said. "And I stopped a second and wondered 'what was that?' And I look down and see sparks."
It turns out that when she dropped the cord, it fell onto the plug, and the metallic braided covering shorted out, sending sparks everywhere.
Luckily, Skerchock says, it didn't ignite her carpeting, though it left scorch marks on her bedroom wall.
But she was stunned, as she assumed her gold braided cord was stronger than the white plastic Apple cords.
"All the regular cords, they bend and show wires over time, so I was thinking this would hold up forever," she said.
She didn't realize when she bought the cord that the braided metal covering was a natural conductor.
Apple fights back
All this comes just a weeks afterApple issued a nationwide alertabout third party chargers and cords sold for iPhones, filing a lawsuit accusing some third party Amazon sellers of selling counterfeit Apple accessories.
Apple says it has no way to guarantee that any of those products are safe.
So how can you protect yourself? Apple says buy only Apple brand or Apple Certified chargers and cords. Certified cords will have a"MFi" logosaying Apple has checked them for safety.
Katie Skerchock says she'll steer clear of non-certified accessories in the future.
We tried to contact the manufacturer, but she did not save the packaging. And when we checked the discount store where she bought the cord, it no longer had the metal braided cord for sale.
So be careful what you buy, so you stay safe and you don't waste your money.
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