Author: adminficci

Fake Toyota parts worth Dh26m seized in UAE.

Al Futtaim Toyota, in partnership with UAE government authorities, has completed a total of five raids on fake car part dealers in the third quarter of this year with a focus on counterfeit operations in Dubai and Sharjah, bringing the total value of counterfeit products seized or destroyed to over Dh26 million this year.

The majority of items confiscated were serviceable goods such as oil filters, of which over 34,000 were seized worth almost Dh760,000, as well as nearly 6,000 brake pads with a value of over Dh1.50 million. Fake brake pads made out of dried grass or asbestos and other cheap counterfeit car parts not only put the driver at risk but also endanger the lives of other road users. In addition, fake oil filters can degenerate much faster due to the poor-quality materials used and lead to major engine failure or seizure thereby resulting in expensive repairs.

“Our role in ensuring customers’ safety is paramount and it is our firm commitment to protect consumers from the threat of dangerous counterfeit parts,” said Saud Abbasi, Managing Director of Al Futtaim Toyota.

https://www.khaleejtimes.com/business/auto/fake-toyota-parts-worth-dh26m-seized-in-uae

Over Rs 5 crore currency seized at Mumbai airport.

Mumbai: Assorted foreign currency worth Rs 5.04 crore was seized at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA) between January to September this year, said airport authorities.

The seizure was made by the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) personnel, who have also arrested 17 people in connection to the seizures.

Among the arrested are six Indians, including a woman. Officials claim that most seizures were made during the pre-embarkation check point in the security hold area at the international airport.

An airport official said that according to recent trends, mostly foreign nationals are involved in assorted currency smuggling. In the first nine months of the year, CISF seized assorted currencies like US Dollars, Euros, UAE Dirham, Saudi Riyal worth Rs 5,04,02,871 in several operations.

Those arrested were caught carrying large amounts of foreign currency, smartly concealed in the inner compartment of their luggage or hidden under their clothes or undergarments.

However, what the accused do not understand is that the body scanners not only detect metal but provide a partial scan of the body, which detects paper as well.

When a passenger reaches the pre-embarkation check point, the traveller and his/her luggage is checked through a scanning machine, said an official.

https://www.freepressjournal.in/mumbai/over-rs-5-crore-currency-seized-at-mumbai-airport

How the government’s gold policies make India’s neighbours richer and this country itself poorer

In 2013, the UPA government imposed a 10 percent import duty on gold. P Chdambaram, the then finance minister was quite savvy a

bout the way financial markets work.

He knew too well, that any import duty above the 5 percent threshold, would inevitably draw the attention of smugglers. But he hoped that official imports would reduce because of the higher duty, and consequently the current account deficit (CAD) would narrow. In his effort to spruce up the books of accounts, Chidambaram ended up making smuggling very lucrative for traders.

Gold has a special appeal for smugglers because it has a high value despite a low volume. That makes the smuggling in of gold easy — through airports, through passengers as part of personal gold, or even through carriers. Sometimes, when the contraband is large enough, it comes through dhows as well, and the metal is landed somewhere along the porous coastline of India.

True, the customs seize gold.  But as a reply to the Lok Sabha on February 3, 2017 (in reply to the unstarred question no 387) showed, the government admitted that seizures were scant compared to the volume of gold that was being smuggled into India.  The government admitted that the Income Tax Department conducted more than 1,100 searches, seizures and surveys and issued more than 5,100 notices, between November 2016 and January 2017, for verification of suspicious high value cash deposits in old high denominations.

Collectively, these raids and seizures accounted for valuables worth Rs. 610 crore which includes cash of Rs. 513 crore. Rest of the seized valuables worth Rs.97 crore was mainly in the form of gold, jewellery and silver. Of the 100 tonnes of gold smuggled in each year, the total seizure accounted for just 0.003 percent!.

https://www.moneycontrol.com/news/business/economy/how-the-governments-gold-policies-make-indias-neighbours-richer-and-this-country-itself-poorer-4574121.html

Fake Goods, Real Dangers.

The dangers of buying counterfeit products aren’t always obvious. There are economic impacts, legal implications, and health and safety risks that are important for you to know before you buy. When traveling, buy from reputable sources.

Economic Impacts – Each year, CBP seizes all kinds of counterfeit products from all over the world. Counterfeiters look to make profits by making fake versions of the hottest products as soon they are available on the market. Each time you buy a counterfeit good, a legitimate company loses revenue. This translates to lost profits and U.S. jobs over time. Know who you buy from.

Health and Safety – Counterfeiters don’t care about your well-being. They just want to make a profit. Many counterfeit products are low-quality and can cause injuries. Last year, CBP seized more items that pose health and safety risks than ever before. The top three categories were personal care, pharmaceuticals, and consumer electronics. Protect yourself and your family by avoiding potentially risky items.

Legal Implications – It is illegal to purchase counterfeit goods.  Bringing them into the United States may result in civil or criminal penalties. Purchasing counterfeit goods supports criminal activities such as money laundering and trafficking in illegal guns and drugs. Remember, if it seems like a steal, it is.

https://www.cbp.gov/FakeGoodsRealDangers

Online Searches Often Lead Customers to Counterfeit Goods.

Counterfeit items have been a problem for some of the internet’s biggest retailers for a while now. During their analysis, researchers said, they learned about the proliferation of counterfeit goods simply by conducting searches.

According to the survey, 60% of Google’s first-page results for a brand name antibiotic called Bactrim led to websites that researchers believe were “very likely to be operating unlawfully.” While the biggest concern about counterfeit drugs (and the websites selling them) are potential health issues that could result from taking counterfeit medication, researchers also discovered that these sites could be hacked, leading to potentially dangerous consequences for a person’s private data.

The problems didn’t stop there, either. Researchers found that when they searched for a “Comotomo teether,” nearly one-third of all results featured “potentially harmful products.” Consumers searching for new “white goods,” or common appliances like refrigerators and washing machines, were regularly sent to a website selling counterfeit products.

While the issue has become widespread on some of the world’s top search engines, researchers said there’s currently very little legal recourse.

Through the study, researchers questioned how such situations could exist on major search engines like Google, which facilitates roughly 3.5 billion searches every day.

https://www.businessnewsdaily.com/15311-online-searches-counterfeit-goods.html

Online Searches Often Lead Customers to Counterfeit Goods.

Counterfeit items have been a problem for some of the internet’s biggest retailers for a while now. During their analysis, researchers said, they learned about the proliferation of counterfeit goods simply by conducting searches.

According to the survey, 60% of Google’s first-page results for a brand name antibiotic called Bactrim led to websites that researchers believe were “very likely to be operating unlawfully.” While the biggest concern about counterfeit drugs (and the websites selling them) are potential health issues that could result from taking counterfeit medication, researchers also discovered that these sites could be hacked, leading to potentially dangerous consequences for a person’s private data.

The problems didn’t stop there, either. Researchers found that when they searched for a “Comotomo teether,” nearly one-third of all results featured “potentially harmful products.” Consumers searching for new “white goods,” or common appliances like refrigerators and washing machines, were regularly sent to a website selling counterfeit products.

While the issue has become widespread on some of the world’s top search engines, researchers said there’s currently very little legal recourse.

Through the study, researchers questioned how such situations could exist on major search engines like Google, which facilitates roughly 3.5 billion searches every day.

In the course of its research, Incopro’s lawyers asked Google to explain its position on these websites and how it removes websites that have infringed on other companies’ trademarks. Incopro’s lawyers were told that the tech giant didn’t “at this time deindex URLs or websites from its Web Search index on trademark grounds upon request,” meaning that the company would do nothing – even if your intellectual property was being copied. Google promised, however, that it would “evaluate court orders issued against third parties and, where appropriate (with content specifically identified), voluntarily remove content from our Web Search results.”

Researchers also learned that Google would “seek relief from orders against it,” meaning that legal rights holders would have to go through litigation to protect their rights and consumer safety. Such a stance doesn’t favor the copyright holder or small businesses, since litigation is often slow and expensive.

https://www.businessnewsdaily.com/15311-online-searches-counterfeit-goods.html