Huawei has been caught in the act of using stock photos and passing them off as having been taken by one of its smartphones — again.

The last time this happened was in August, when Huawei used DSLR-shot photos for a Huawei Nova 3 commercial. Now, it's published some image samples that it claims were taken by the upcoming P30 Pro.

But as it turns out, the photos were actually taken using a DSLR, as spotted by GSMArena. Worse yet, the photos are ones Huawei didn't shoot itself but are stock images. As GadgetMatch found out by performing a reverse image search, a photograph featuring a young child, supposedly shot on the P30 Pro, is uncannily similar to a photo Jake Olson took years ago. It's available on his online portfolio.

Another fake image sample featuring a volcano eruption, as it turns out, was lifted by Huawei from Getty Images.

Using Stock Photos

Huawei surely isn't the only manufacturer in the world using stock images or using DSLR-shot photos and pretending they're shot on a smartphone. Samsung was recently found to have done something similar while promoting Portrait Mode on one of its mid-tier handsets.

Still, the practice reeks of fraudulent advertising, especially considering the photos are clearly marked to have been taken on a smartphone, which means Huawei is essentially telling people they can take those kinds of shots using only its phone, when in fact that's simply not true. Mobile photography has come a long way in terms of quality and versatility, which is all the more reason why Huawei is better off using shots actually taken on a phone rather than duping people.

Huawei P30 Pro

In any case, the key to all this is the P30 Pro, which Huawei is close to unveiling. Not much information is available, but the company recently confirmed it would have a periscope-style lens capable of 10x optical zoom. Make sure to check back with Tech Times as we learn more.