By Candice Cai & Chew Hui Min

Ms Jane Tan* is accustomed to receiving packages in her mail, sent by her clients overseas. So when she received a package earlier this month, it did not seem like anything out of the ordinary.

A manager in the media broadcast industry, Ms Tan, told AsiaOne that the package was mailed to her workplace.

It was only upon opening the package that the 45-year-old realised to her surprise, that there was a mobile phone inside. Ms Tan said, "It looked like a parcel I'd normally receive from clients overseas, so I didn't think much about it."

Suspicious, she called her client to check, but they denied sending the phone. The parcel did not contain any return address either, but was apparently mailed from China, based on the stamps on the parcel.

She has no idea who could have sent this 'unsolicited mail'.

The phone in question seems to be closely modelled after Apple's newly-launched iPhone. "I thought it was an iPhone at first, but realised it was not after a closer look at the packaging."

i is for imitation

At first glance, the box containing the phone resembles the genuine article. But upon closer inspection, it's twice as thick as the real iphone, and half as slick.

The package, which sports a suspiciously apple-like logo, but does not explicitly state that it is an iphone. It boasts that "The phone has been applied the most updated technology of touch screen" and "Bluetooth wireless technology makes you feel easy in business approaching".

The battery cover proudly proclaims that "Design in California Assembly by China", and "Apple retain all the power". The English certainly is from China.

While the phone has the same slide-to-unlock function and square logos on the menu as the iphone, the similarities mostly end there. Don't expect to flick, flip or scroll on this phone, or that pinching the screen would zoom the image. The touchscreen function is also unreliable but, it does have bluetooth.

A quick search on the internet reveals that there are several models of "iphones" from China being touted online, with one model priced at more than US$1,200; and even some with Chinese menus.

But this should not be a surprise, since the Chinese have reportedly managed to produce fake versions of everything, from LV bags to eggs to Ferraris.

A case of mixed identities?

Ms Tan is wary of the surprise 'gift' and has yet to use it. Some of Ms Tan's colleagues and friends who heard about this incident expressed caution about using the phone, as the product may not be reliable

"There was no return address, so I have no idea who mailed it."

She eventually contacted SingPost to determine who the sender is. It turned out that her client in China had sent her a parcel, but it contained tapes and not a phone; so it appears that there has been a mix up in the delivery of the parcels.

When contacted by AsiaOne, SingPost responded that they send parcels based on a consignment note attached to the parcel, "Once a parcel arrives in Singapore, we deliver the parcel as it is and without any intervention. The pairing of parcel and the consignment note is done at the post office of origin."

Ms Tan says she does not intend to use it and will return it once she finds out who is the phone was really meant for.

*Not her real name