Those eagerly anticipating next month’s Macworld and the prospects of a smaller iPhone should be careful, as a slew of tiny clones are introducing confusion as they reach store shelves in several countries, especially Thailand.

While silicone case molds have surfaced that allegedly hint at a smaller iPhone in the works very soon, a rash of similarly-sized dupes made by anonymous southeast Asian firms have added to the confusion and deception.

The devices, spotted here by AppleInsider in Thailand are almost always designed to mimic Apple’s products as closely as possible and share not only the basic design but the branding as well, in some cases directly copying the logo and the “iPhone” labeling on the back, so they can fool even a trained Apple eye.

Their software is also at times familiar and carries a similar layout, down to icons ripped directly from Apple’s interface, and similar functionality.

Aside from obvious color changes such as splashes of gold or pink (this is usually the tip-off that they aren’t real Apple gear), these clones are (when switched off) close enough to the original that they may pass for an iPhone “Nano” to the newbie eye. As such, readers should be on the lookout for such claims in the run-up to January’s Macworld Expo, where we’ll see if the rumors of true iPhone “Nano” models are true.