Russians, Gobble Up Hacked iPhones!

Russian teens SMS

MOSCOW — In the Soviet days, Russians asked their American friends to bring blue jeans, rock records and other Western goods into the country. Today, Russians can buy almost anything they want here, but they are still begging for one item: Apple Inc.'s slick iPhone.

However the iPhone has not been released in Russia officially because Apple is still negotiating with Russian mobile service providers.

Moscow has become an iPhone trader's paradise. Russian Web sites were offering the new 3G iPhone for about $1,200, six times the $199 base price in the U.S. Even Apple's first-edition 8-gigabyte iPhone was going for ($775.00) almost as much at Moscow's Gorbushka electronics market.

However not all Russian and buyers are all paying astronomical prices for their iPhones. Some buy the phones for themselves when abroad on travel or business trips, while others request them from friends traveling in the U.S. or Europe. Then they pay a small fee to have them unlocked and they are ready to use their new iPhone.

Read the full story at Fox News.