Chinese banks a haven for web counterfeits
Kim Sbarcea knew exactly what she wanted. She typed “Tiffany Elsa Peretti mesh earrings” into Google and scrolled through impeccable photos of the delicate US$450 diamond-shaped earrings until she chanced upon a pair for — deal of deals! — $32. The website, Tiffany-OutletSale.com, looked legit and Ms Sbarcea assumed Tiffany & Co would not let an unauthorised site use its name. Besides, she could pay by credit card.
http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/asia/555623/chinese-banks-a-haven-for-web-counterfeits
Lear MoreNigeria: SON reduces substandard products to 45% in three years
The Standard Organisation on Nigeria said it was able to reduce the level of substandard products in the country from a staggering 85 per cent to 45 per cent between March 2011 and November 2014.
Dr. Joseph Odumodu, Director General SON, said on Thursday at the 2nd Lagos NIPR Stakeholders Conference with the theme, ‘The Nigerian Consumer Right and Obligations’ held at the University of Lagos, that to tackle the menace of substandard products importation, production, storage and distribution demanded the merging of the Enforcement, Ports and Border Operation Units into a full directorate now called ‘Inspectorate and Compliance Directorate (ICD).
http://worldstagegroup.com/index.php?active=news&newscid=22196&catid=28
Lear MoreMichael LaFaive and Todd Nesbit: R.I. set to lose tobacco revenue
The Rhode Island General Assembly is working toward a budget vote that may — among other things — raise excise taxes on cigarettes by 25 cents per pack. The increase will prove counterproductive from both a revenue and public health standpoint.
We first estimated a statistical model in 2008 to measure the degree to which cigarettes are smuggled. It covers most American states and has since been updated with tax and population changes through 2013. Our model tells us that through 2013 Rhode Island’s total smuggling rate is almost 32 percent of the total cigarette market.
http://www.providencejournal.com/article/20150508/OPINION/150509392/2011
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Lessons From China’s Counterfeit Crackdown
Beijing resident Wang Wenwen says she frequently trawled China’s online marketplaces for brand-name bargains, but grew tired of receiving obviously fake merchandise. The breaking point was a blue, floral-patterned dress she got for $32 that was advertised as a product of popular Chinese brand Five Plus. Not only wasn’t it a Five Plus dress, she says—no label to be found—it was made with “bad materials, unlike those claimed on the site.” Now Wang makes sure she can see and touch her clothes before she buys them.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-05-07/lessons-from-china-s-counterfeit-crackdown
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UK cyber cops cuff three in counterfeit Cisco computer kit swoop
THE UK Police Intellectual Property Crime Unit (PIPCU) has arrested a three-man computer counterfeiting group alleged to have made merry with Cisco intellectual property and hardware.
PIPCU reckons that the three fakers are responsible for the import, export and selling of the hooky networking gear using a relatively sophisticated sales network.
AP Exclusive: Chinese banks a haven for web counterfeits
Kim Sbarcea knew exactly what she wanted. She typed “Tiffany Elsa Peretti mesh earrings” into Google and scrolled through impeccable photos of the delicate $450 diamond-shaped earrings until she chanced upon a pair for — deal of deals! — $32.
The website, tiffany-outletsale.com, looked legit and Sbarcea assumed Tiffany & Co. would not let an unauthorized site use its name. Besides, she could pay by credit card.
RFID and AIDC News: Northwestern University Researchers Claim Breakthrough in Invisible Inks to Thwart Counterfeiting
Researchers and brand companies have been chasing the use of various types of invisible inks to thwart counterfeiting for more than two decades. SCDigest editor Dan Gilmore, for example, says he was tangentially connected to a research project on invisible inks for product verification led by the well-known Battelle Institute in Columbus, OH in the mid-1990s, and research has continued on ever since.
Each application of the ink can be made with a custom formula known only to the producer, which makes it especially hard to copy and suitable for precise identification techniques.
In fact, the idea to identify true goods from counterfeit ones goes back at least until the 13th century, when watermarks were invented to authenticate original documents. Ever since then, printers and forgers/counterfeiters have been in an arms race to out-do each other.
http://www.scdigest.com/ontarget/15-05-07-1.php?cid=9268&ctype=content
Lear MoreOrleans sheriff’s deputy arrested, accused of smuggling drugs, tobacco into OPP
FAKE products are costing the country Sh60 billion annually in lost revenue, the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics has said. Newsly appointed Kebs chairman Lucas Maitha said yesterday that trade of counterfeits has become rampant leading to huge losses in the economy. Consequently, he said, Kebs has stepped up the war on illegal and fake goods by appointing a 50-member team which will conduct market surveillance in all counties.
Maitha was speaking during a meeting with the business community in Kilifi.
http://allafrica.com/stories/201505060136.html
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Fake privacy gadgets, from Anonabox to Sever: Fighting a strange and profitable epidemic
Digital privacy and security took center stage in 2013, when we learned the extent of government surveillance on citizens under the Patriot Act. This paved the way for the success of privacy and security focused gadgets such as Blackphone, which received $30 million in investment before a prototype was even made.Combined with increasing public concern about hacking and security, a never-ending wave of too-good-to-be-true privacy gadgets have been raking in the dough through crowdfunding websites such as Indiegogo and Kickstarter.None in the wave of magic gadgets has yet to deliver a single working product — and funders are getting restless.
http://www.zdnet.com/article/the-sad-strange-and-profitable-fake-privacy-gadget-epidemic/
Lear MoreOfficials vow to stamp out counterfeiting
Finance Minister Ibrahim Al-Assaf said commercial fraud and counterfeiting have serious impacts on consumer health and safety.
He was speaking at the inauguration of the 4th Arab Forum on Combating Commercial Fraud and Counterfeiting in Riyadh on Tuesday.
Al-Assaf outlined the reasons behind commercial fraud and counterfeiting and their negative effects on the economy. The minister added that the forum is an extension of the efforts of the government of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman to protect the rights of consumers and producers besides maintaining transparency in all manufactured items.