Author: adminficci

Police release details of counterfeit seizure

Toronto police announced details of one of the largest seizure of counterfeit goods in the city’s history.At a morning press conference, staff inspector Bryce Evans said that 10 people were arrested and charged with a variety of offences related to the possession and sale of counterfeit goods.According to police over $3 million in counterfeit goods were seized. During the press conference police also shared details of an ongoing counterfeit operation dubbed ‘Project Consumer Safety’, meant to educate the public about the dangers of buying counterfeit items.Police say they found bacteria, mildew and chicken parts used in one counterfeit jacket. They also cautioned parents about buying fake plush toys for kids, which often end up in the child’s mouth, due to the uncertainty of what they are made with or where they came from.

http://www.globaltoronto.com/police+to+release+details+of+counterfeit+seizure/6442764803/story.html

Counterfeit goods seized during joint agency raids – Macquarie Park

Police have seized thousands of dollars worth of alleged counterfeit goods during raids in Sydney’s North West. At about 9am (Tuesday 27 November 2012), officers attached to Gladesville Local Area Command and investigators from NSW Department of Fair Trading and Australian Customs and Border Protection Service, executed a search warrant at a warehouse in Macquarie Park.Investigators located twelve pallets of footwear bearing brand names such as Nike, ASICS, ADIDAS and Converse, suspected to be counterfeit.The goods are currently being inspected for authenticity by representatives of Nike Australia and ACG Corporate Services (ASICS and adidas).Police also located further pallets of clothing and footwear that will undergo authenticity testing over coming days.Inquiries are continuing and charges are expected.

Feds, industry split over counterfeit parts strategy

Industry groups are crying foul over steps the government is taking to curb the growing problem of counterfeit parts making their way into products and weapons bought by the government. Of particular concern is a provision in the 2012 National Defense Authorization Act, which orders the Defense Department to hold contractors financially responsible for replacing counterfeit products. In addition, the Pentagon’s Defense Logistics Agency announced in August that contractors will have to specially tag electronic microcircuits, which are frequent targets for counterfeiters, with a botanically generated DNA marking to assure their authenticity. In both cases, industry executives say the mandates are unfair and could be costly. The Pentagon has yet to publish rules for how it will hold contractors financially liable for counterfeit components in their products. Trey Hodgkins, senior vice president of global public-sector government affairs at TechAmerica, said his group’s members are concerned they will be exposed to potentially significant financial liability.“Industry is waiting around, [and] it’s beginning to impact performance because companies are anticipating liability,” Hodgkins said. Contractors are starting to put clauses in their contractual agreements and negotiate with suppliers the issue of shared liability if a counterfeit part were to be sold to the government. TechAmerica and numerous industry groups are pressing lawmakers to pass a provision in the House-passed 2013 National Defense Authorization Act that will provide relief for companies who take steps to mitigate counterfeits.“If it fails, it will be a big deal,” Hodgkins said. Commercial companies may decide not to participate in some contract competitions because of liability concerns, he added. That measure would amend the current law to shield contractors from the financial burdens of replacing suspected and known counterfeit parts, including previously used parts, if:

• The contractor is using a method, approved by the Defense Department, to identify and avoid counterfeit electronic parts.

• The counterfeit part was procured from a trusted supplier, as defined by DoD, or the part was provided to the contractor as government property.

• The contractor notifies the government in writing within 60 days of discovering or suspecting that the government or its contractors have bought a counterfeit part.“This would remove any ambiguity that might currently exist,” said Larry Allen, president of consulting firm Allen Federal Business Partners. “It’s a gray area,” when determining who would be financially responsible, Allen said. Under the 2012 NDAA, contractors and subcontractors are also required, whenever possible, to buy products from original manufacturers, their authorized dealers or companies that DoD deems as trusted suppliers. But trusted suppliers have not been clearly defined or identified, Hodgkins said.If contractors have to establish a separate supply chain for their government business to meet these standards, that could increase costs to government, said Erica McCann of TechAmerica. “Considering the times are calling for doing more with less, this seems to be outside the scope of the primary mission to reduce spending,” McCann said.When the government uses a “lowest price, technically acceptable” standard for evaluating contract bids, there is going to be an overwhelming amount of pressure on vendors to use counterfeit equipment to keep costs low, Allen said.“While contractors should not be off the hook, the government can’t expect to pay discount prices for real stuff or real product,” he said.Over the past decade, the number of high-risk suppliers to the federal government, including companies known to have sold suspect counterfeit parts, rose 63 percent from 5,849 companies in 2002 to 9,539 companies in 2011, according to data released last month by the global information firm IHS. This does not necessarily mean the government bought counterfeit products from those vendors.“This is a sophisticated issue that is hard to detect, [and] counterfeiters are getting better at falsifying parts,” said Rory King, director of strategic supply chain solutions for IHS.The matter of liability for counterfeit parts gained steam in Congress last year when reports surfaced that counterfeit memory chips made their way into computers of the country’s primary missile defense system, the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system. The Pentagon shelled out $2.7 million to fix the problem.If those components had failed, the THAAD system would likely have failed, Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., said at a hearing last November.“And who do you think paid for it?” Levin said at the hearing. “The American taxpayer. … There is no reason on earth that the replacement of a counterfeit part should be paid for by American taxpayers, instead of by the contractor who put it in a military system.“In fact, the Pentagon later charged THAAD’s contractor, Lockheed Martin, for the costs.Industry groups are also troubled by the Defense Logistics Agency’s push to require that all electronic microcircuits be specially tagged as being authentic. To do this, companies will have to contract with Applied DNA Sciences, the Stony Brook, N.Y.-based company that produces the DNA markers, or one of its authorized licensees. The company modifies plant DNA and provides the markers suspended in military grade ink to companies. The ink is then applied to products and can be tested at any point down the road to verify the authenticity of a product. In a Nov. 15 letter to DLA, TechAmerica said the requirement “could be counterproductive and not in the government’s best interests.”Hodgkins said companies don’t know how this DNA will affect the performance of their technology, and the department is authorizing a monopoly because there is only one company in the world that makes this product. TechAmerica urged DLA to postpone the rule and include it as part of the Pentagon’s broader counterfeit regulation to carry out the 2012 defense authorization.

Eaton Corporation : Eaton Shares New Year’s Purchasing Tips to Promote Safety, Combat Electrical Counterfeiting

Diversified industrial manufacturer Eaton Corporation announced tips aimed at helping facility owners and contractors identify counterfeit electrical products. The tips can help customers as they take inventory of their current stock and prepare for purchasing in the New Year. Counterfeit electrical products present serious health and safety risks to consumers and to the electrical industry. These products can overheat or cause short circuits, leading to fires, shocks or explosions that can cost people their lives and produce considerable property damage. Although counterfeit products are often less expensive than legitimate products because the manufacturers cut corners, they also present long-term economic risks related to safety and their negative impact on legitimate manufacturers.”While there are laws against counterfeiting in many countries, detection is sometimes difficult and enforcement is lax,” said Tom Grace, brand protection manager, Eaton’s Electrical Sector. “Legitimate manufacturers, distributors and customers must work together to prevent unsafe products from entering the supply chain and causing harm to people and property. By following these tips, customers can become more confident that their facility is free of counterfeit products.”Buy authentic: The best way to avoid counterfeit electrical products is to purchase products from the manufacture’s authorized distributors or resellers. There is a higher risk of counterfeits if one cannot trace the path of commerce to the original manufacturer. Verify authentication: When possible, use tools provided by the original manufacturer or certification organizations to verify electrical products are authentic. This can be done while purchasing, or for products currently owned. Eaton’s new Circuit Breaker Authentication (CBA) tool is designed to allow customers to detect if Eaton molded circuit breakers (MCCBs), up to 400 amperes, are counterfeit. By entering the bar code, part number and date code found on the circuit breaker, the CBA tool is intended to immediately verify authentication. To learn more, or download the CBA tool, visit www.eaton.com/counterfeit.Scrutinize labels and packaging: When purchasing an electronic product, check for certification marks from organizations that certify the quality and performance of electrical products. Avoid products that lack any identifying branding label or affiliation. Be leery of additional markings or labeling not applied by the original manufactures with missing or poor-quality labels, out-of-date product codes and non-genuine packaging. As counterfeiters become more sophisticated, counterfeit products become even more difficult to detect this way, creating an increasing need for additional scrutiny. Avoid “bargains”: When shopping for electrical products, avoid “bargains” that seem too good to be true. Compare the price of that product to a similar product at a different retailer. If it seems too good to be true, the odds are it is. Pay close attention to products purchased: Quality control is often lacking in counterfeiting operations, so you may be able to spot a counterfeit simply based on its workmanship. If it is a product that is purchased habitually, compare the quality and the price of that product at a different retailer. Be cautious of products that seem flimsy or are noticeably poorly made. Make sure everything that should be there, is there: Counterfeit products often don’t include supplementary materials such as owner’s manual or product registration card. Sometimes counterfeiters do not include all the parts that should come with the product, or some parts will be from a different manufacturer. Report suspected counterfeits: If a product is suspected to be counterfeit, it is recommended to contact the brand owner. This will allow authentication of the suspect product and ensure that the potentially unsafe product is removed from the market place. Stopping the sale of counterfeit products is everyone’s responsibility-manufacturers, distributors, resellers (authorized and unauthorized) and customers alike,” said Grace. “Implementing these tips into inventory and purchasing practices is a big way for customers to help keep counterfeit products out of their facilities and the demand for counterfeits down.”Eaton is committed to stopping counterfeiting of electrical products worldwide. Its electrical business has adopted a strict policy for counterfeiting and is committed to anti-counterfeiting technologies and programs. Eaton’s electrical business is a global leader in power distribution, power quality, control and automation, power monitoring, and energy management products and services. Eaton is positioned, through its global electrical product series and solutions to answer today’s most critical electrical power management challenges. Eaton Corporation is a diversified power management company with more than 100 years of experience providing energy-efficient solutions that help our customers effectively manage electrical, hydraulic and mechanical power. With 2011 sales of $16.0 billion, Eaton is a global technology leader in electrical components, systems and services for power quality, distribution and control; hydraulics components, systems and services for industrial and mobile equipment; aerospace fuel, hydraulics and pneumatic systems for commercial and military use; and truck and automotive drivetrain and power train systems for performance, fuel economy and safety. Eaton has approximately 74,000 employees and sells products to customers in more than 150 countries.

132 online counterfeit sites seized in Cyber Monday blitz

ICE agents seized 101 domain names in the United States and 31 were taken over by officers in Britain, Romania, Belgium, France and Denmark and by Europol, the European Police Office, ICE Director John Morton said. The sites, many linked to organized crime, were selling fake goods that ranged from National Football League jerseys and Nike Inc shoes to Adobe Systems Inc software, he said.”There is much money to be made out there duping consumers and that is what is going on,” Morton said on a conference call. Investigations are ongoing and more sites will be seized in coming days. In the United States, 41 rights owners’ merchandise was being sold on the seized sites, Morton said.ICE said in a statement that one U.S. arrest had been made.The crackdown marks the third year that ICE has targeted websites selling counterfeit goods on Cyber Monday, the online shopping spree. It is the first time the agency has carried out the operation with European police. The Cyber Monday seizures raise the total number of U.S. sites taken over to 1,630 since ICE began its anti-counterfeit campaign in June 2010.PayPal accounts identified with the sites and holding a total of more than $175,000 are being targeted for seizure, the ICE statement said. Morton put the scale of online piracy in the billions of dollars. Much of the online counterfeiting is in China and other parts of Asia, and U.S. authorities are working with China on the problem, he said.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/11/26/usa-retail-counterfeit-idUSL1E8MQ50I20121126

Workshop on ‘identification, counterfeit recognition’ ends

Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) concluded the series of workshops on “Identification on Counterfeit Recognition” held in Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad. The discussion was held regarding tax complaint cigarette industry in the workshops. FBR receives 39 percent of its FED and 3.5 percent of total tax revenue from legitimate cigarette industry. Speaking on the occasion, Director General of Training and Research Inland Revenue, Ansar Javed said illegal cigarette industry has gradually grown to become one of the largest tax evaders in our economy.“Unfortunately Pakistan ranks among the top ten countries in the world when it comes to illegal cigarette trade and the actual figures to the loss of national exchequer might be closer to Rs 40 to 50 billion, he added. He further added about 18.5 per cent of the cigarette industry in Pakistan comprises of either smuggled products or products on which the due levies are not paid. Underlining the importance of increase in tax net, Ansar Javed deplored the fact that country’s tax to GDP ratio is merely 10.2, which is a dismal 155th in the world and one of the lowest in the region.“Such a huge revenue loss from just one sector is unacceptable.” he stated. He also acknowledged the inherent weaknesses of his organization and conceded the FBR is still far from completely resolving this problem. Director General Human Resource Management FBR, Rana Seerat said expertise in the identification of illicit or counterfeit cigarettes is the first step towards finding a panacea for the evil of illegal cigarette trade and in that perspective such training provide the foundation on which all further efforts by FBR would be based.“The extent of tax evasion and illicit trade in this country puts huge pressure on our economy and also unjustifiably burdens the compliant taxpayers,” she added. She sounded positive that if we can pull our act together and succeed in improving our tax to GDP ratio, all other problems will be tackled. The interesting aspect of the training workshop was thorough and detailed presentations made by officials of PMPKl (formerly Lakson Tobacco) who narrated their side of the story and the woes accompanied them.

Texas business owner sentenced in counterfeit circuit breaker scheme

A 63-year-old Austin, Texas, man was sentenced  in Jacksonville to a year and a day in federal prison for mail fraud and trafficking in counterfeit goods and services. The court also ordered Elod Tamas “Nick” Toldy to pay $59,653.97 in restitution to the victims of the offenses.According to court documents, from 2008 until April 2010, Toldy used his electronics firm Pioneer Breaker and Control Supply in Austin to market counterfeit circuit breakers through eBay. Undercover agents from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations purchased numerous counterfeit circuit breakers from Toldy bearing the names “Zinsco” and “Stab-lok.” “Zinsco” is a trademark held by Connecticut Electric Inc. “Stab-lok” is a registered trademark held by American Circuit Breaker Corporation.On April 21, 2010, HSI agents executed a federal search warrant at Pioneer Breaker and Control Supply and seized more than 20,000 counterfeit electronic products. A subsequent search warrant executed in Laredo, Texas, resulted in the seizure of an additional 77,000 counterfeit circuit breakers. Agents also seized 60,000 counterfeit labels bearing the trademark for United Laboratories. The manufacturer’s suggested retail price for the legitimate products that were the subject of the counterfeiting scheme was more than $4.7 million.”Trafficking in counterfeit goods is a serious problem. In this particular case, an individual was marketing counterfeit circuit breakers to unsuspecting consumers, which poses significant safety implications,” said Sue McCormick, special agent in charge of Homeland Security Investigations Tampa, which oversees the agency’s Jacksonville office. “In light of the holiday shopping season being right around the corner, I urge consumers to protect themselves. Buy from legitimate retailers. Otherwise, you may put your health and safety at ris

One In Five Online Shoppers Buy Fake Goods

One in five online shoppers hunting for a bargain is tricked into buying counterfeit goods, according to a new consumer report conducted by MarkMonitor. The study revealed that 20 per cent of people based in Europe and the US browsing for discounted designer products on the internet mistakenly end up purchasing from fraudulent websites. “Consumers are being waylaid by rogue e-commerce sits, causing brands to lose business,” said Fredrick Felman, chief marketing officer of MarkMonitor. “The findings from the shopping report underscore the importance of developing proactive protection strategies in the digital age.” MarkMonitor – part of the Thomson Reuters stable – surveyed online users in six countries over a period of nine months, monitoring around 9 million shopping sessions and approximately 9,000 different websites, reports WWD. The study also established that for every one customer intentionally purchasing fake goods, 20 were just hunting for a good deal. The findings follow the news that the US and Chinese governments have teamed up to close a designer handbag counterfeit operation worth over £500 million – which lead to 73 people being arrested.

http://www.vogue.co.uk/news/2012/11/21/fake-designer-goods—shoppers-tricked-into-buying-online—counterfeit-products

ICC Commercial Crime Services: CIB offer human-based investigations to beat counterfeit-peddling websites

The ICC Counterfeiting Intelligence Bureau (CIB) is urging a radical change in strategic thinking when it comes to tackling the huge growth in websites selling counterfeit goods. CIB argues that key to combating the problem is an understanding of its magnitude. For example a recent CIB investigation, undertaken on behalf of a member, into a single website selling counterfeit products uncovered links to more than 2000 websites selling fake versions of products by over 80 brand holders. The central issue is the ease with which counterfeiters can set up batches of websites with an Internet Service Provider (ISP) at the same time, often with limited differences between them. When one of these websites is shut down, it has a ready replacement that can be accessed from major search engines using the similar terms. CIB Assistant Director Max Vetter commented: “It is, effectively, a numbers game. At the moment the counterfeiters are winning because the ISPs do not scrutinise the sites that they host- their sole interest is in getting their hosting fee. Most ISPs lack the will or mechanisms to spot the websites selling fakes- even though, in practice, this would be a relatively simple procedure.” The CIB approach is to produce an intelligence package on each website that they investigate. Using covert techniques and a human-based approach, as opposed to running algorithms in the way many companies do, the aim is to establish a clear picture of the entire network operated by the counterfeiters. Gaining this snapshot before a website is closed down is vital since it provides a number of leads on where the perpetrators may set up shop next. Once the intelligence has been collected and collated it can be used by the CIB member in more than one way. Mr Vetter continued: “Whilst our intelligence packages can be used for criminal prosecutions, our members do not always use this avenue given a cost/benefit analysis- in many jurisdictions, anti-counterfeiting has low priority so litigation may be costly and ineffective. An alternative to prosecution (ATP) can be used to get websites shut down quickly, avoiding the costly legal avenue. CIB can deploy several ATP techniques, thus making the exercise more cost-effective.”

http://www.4-traders.com/news/ICC-Commercial-Crime-Services-CIB-offer-human-based-investigations-to-beat-counterfeit-peddling-we–15512597/