Power adapters break all the time and there is a very real risk of burning down your house when they do. Electrical fires are not rare. Take a look at an Apple charger vs a counterfeit. The lack of proper circuit isolation on the counterfeit is a prime example of how to cause a fire when a component fails.
There are hundreds of obscure branded power adapters on Amazon, and they are likely to be just as dangerous as a counterfeit Apple-branded adapter. So the real problem is the lack of electrical safety guarantees for products sold online, not the existence of counterfeit products. A counterfeit handbag never killed anyone.
> So the real problem is the lack of electrical safety guarantees for products sold online
I disagree. Not all products have this problem. I may be in the minority here, but I actively throw away my crappy power plugs because of the risk they pose. That's an uneeded risk I don't take.
Looking in my apt I have:
- Anker chargers for my USB stuff
- An Apple power adapter for my mac
- A Vizio TV with built in PSU
- AudioTechnica PSU on my speakers
- General Electric Microwave
I'm sure I'm missing some PSUs that plug into the wall (as opposed to internal ones) somewhere. But the point is, I have a reasonable guarantee of safety when buying from an established brand. General Electric is over 100 years old. By allowing counterfeiters, my expectation of good engineering when buying from established brands is eroded. It diminishes my safety. If you don't use crappy PSUs, then crappy PSUs are not a problem.
http://www.righto.com/2016/03/counterfeit-macbook-charger-te...