Iranian Police Arrest 5 in Massive iPhone Scam

Iran's police announced on Wednesday the arrest of five key individuals linked to a company that scammed people out of tens of millions of dollars by promising cheap iPhones.

Authorities are still searching for Kourosh Company's owner, Amirhossein Sharifian, who has been flagged by Interpol with a red notice, according to Tasnim news agency. 

Sharifian vanished in late February, shortly after the Kourosh Company came under fire for promising iPhones – typically priced between 35 and 40 million tomans ($660) – for just 20 million ($330). 

The company claimed to eliminate middlemen to offer these significantly lower prices.

It quickly raised around 2 trillion tomans ($34 million) in just a few months. 

It's unclear how it achieved such rapid growth, especially since there are reports that the company's founder, Sharifian, avoided mandatory military service, which should have prevented him from starting a company.

Kourosh Company received significant help from a large advertising campaign featuring many Iranian celebrities, including national football team goalkeeper Alireza Beyranvand and actor Akbar Abdi. 

The celebrities recorded personalized messages in the company's offices to encourage people to "take advantage of a unique opportunity."

The 25 celebrities who endorsed Kourosh Company have reportedly returned their endorsement fees.