September is going to be a busy month in the smartphone market with a number of high end handsets due to be unveiled. As the rumoured HTC One Max gets closer to release we are now seeing some bogus images of the device emerge from normally reliable sources.

We are only a few weeks away now from the IFA 2013 event in Berlin, Germany where we should see a number of new devices appearing. This is expected to include a phablet device from HTC that will be a supersized version of its flagship One device.

Now the image that you can see on this page has emerged courtesy of serial smartphone tipster’s @evleaks that has a pretty good track record with this kind of thing. The image looks like a press render for the upcoming handset but they have now been branded as fake according to Cnet by HTC’s Jeff Gordon.

It is being claimed that @evleaks is “way off its game” this time so the real device may have a completely different design to what was being suggested previously. Rumours have hinted that the HTC One Max will have a 5.9-inch Full HD display powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 processor clocked at 2.3GHz with 2GB of RAM.

There is believed to be 16GB of expandable storage along with a 4MP UltraPixel rear facing camera with a 2.1-megapixel unit around the front. The device will be going up against the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 and another new handset from Sony that are both expected to be unveiled on September 4th.

Do you think these images are fake or is HTC trying to keep the design of the device a secret for as long as possible?