The mobile phone market has exploded in the last ten years because it connects the world in ways we never imagined. However, its growth brought a dark side to the table: counterfeit phones.

Again and again, all of us have seen and heard about people getting scammed into buying fake smartphones or being duped into shelling out huge money for some knockoff.

Scams result in massive messes in the tech field, usually disappointing consumers with incompetent functioning. Fakes are usually made of low-quality materials and weak hardware to resemble the authentic ones.

Worse, fake mobile phones can be a very lethal source of malware. Thankfully, smartphone companies have apparently come to realize this and offer different ways of establishing whether your device is authentic or not.

If you're still not so sure whether your phone is genuine, here's how you establish this.

How to Spot Fake Apple iPhones

It is very easy to check out if your iPhone is the real deal. To do this, you will only need to navigate to the settings menu of your phone, tap General, and then click About.

Now, you'll find your iPhone's serial number. Simply go to Apple's Check Coverage page on its website and then put in the number of your iPhone. In case your phone is a fake one, you'll receive a pop-up warning that your serial code is invalid.

Is Your Vivo Phone Genuine?

Vivo also has a simple method by which you can check whether your device is authentic or not. It just needs the IMEI number. An IMEI number can be found in the mobile settings by opening it, tapping on About phone, and then choosing Status. Here you will find the IMEI number. Now go on to the support page at Vivo, and enter your code. It will notify you if the device is genuine or not.

Check if Your Motorola is Original

You can very easily check if your Motorola phone is original by registering for the Motorola ID. Once registered, all you have to do is add your device to that account. If your Motorola is original, then it would show up in your list of registered devices.

Realme Phones: How to Tolerate a Fake

Realme also makes this an equally effortless process. To do so, go to Settings - then About Phone - and tap Status, which will give you the IMEI number of your phone. Realme has a support page dedicated strictly to that purpose, where you can input the IMEI to check basic information and activation details. That will confirm if your Realme device is real or not.

Oppo: Confirm Your Mobile Validity

If you are sporting an Oppo device, then all you need to do is check their website to verify if your device is original or not. All you need to do is dial *#06# and bring out the IMEI number for your device, then navigate to the Oppo support page and fill out the IMEI for verification of warranty details and authenticity for your device.

Is My Xiaomi Phone Fake?

Xiaomi has made it quite simple to identify whether your device is real or not. Every Xiaomi product has a 20-digit security code, which can be found on the retail box.

If you do not have the box, then there is no need to get worried and check out whether the phone is original or not using its IMEI or serial number. Proceed to the Xiaomi Product Authentication page of their website and fill out the details to get verification of your device.

Fake handsets are not just an annoyance; they can be a major security issue. Whatever phone you hold-be it an Apple, Vivo, Motorola, Realme, Oppo, or even Xiaomi-follow these easy steps, and you will confirm your actual phone.