These Amazon, eBay or Walmart Counterfeits Could Kill You

E-commerce sites profit, but online purchases may prove deadly.

January 9, 2018, Los Angeles, CA – One-third of online shoppers received an unexpected surprise this year - they unwillingly received a counterfeit product. While some consumers may be confident they can identify fake sunglasses, purses, shoes and handbags, a mistake identifying the items below could be deadly. Amazon (AMZN), eBay (EBAY) and Walmart (WMT) take a transaction fee for each item sold.

Tragically, counterfeit OTC drugs, medical tourniquets, electronics, and auto repair and suspension parts not only can injure or kill the purchaser, but unknowing third-parties.

Can you identify the counterfeit product in each product pair below? (answers at the bottom of page)

Photo: ©The Counterfeit Report

1. Authentic Drew Technologies Mongoose® Pro on-board vehicle diagnostic interconnect cables are used by auto dealers, service centers and independent mechanics. They have the processor and all of the electronics integrated inside to re-program critical vehicle functions including braking, air bags, safety features, emissions and performance. Counterfeits may contain malware, damage or destroy expensive vehicle computers and components, and alter safety features.
2. Dr. Numb 5% Lidocaine Cream is a popular topical anesthetic used to reduce pain for health care, skin conditions, tattooing and hair removal. Dr. Numb® is approved by the U.S. FDA for sale in the United States, and Health Canada for Canadian offerings (Many OTC lidocaine products requiring FDA approval and sold online, with various claims and potencies, are not). Counterfeit Dr. Numb submitted for ingredient testing did not contain any Lidocaine as indicated, but Tetracaine, an anesthetic known to cause fatal defects in animal testing, and can result in "full blown anaphylactic shock" says Surgeon and Anesthesiologist, Dr. Tom Brock. The Counterfeit Report found over 21,000 counterfeit Dr. Numb packaged products on eBay, Amazon and Walmart, and purchased 50 of the fake items. eBay listings report that over 13,400 counterfeit products had already been sold to eBay consumers.
3. Composite Resources, Combat Application Tourniquet® (C-A-T®), has been supplied to the U.S. Military, police, first responders and the public worldwide for the past decade. The authentic life-saving device is approved by the U.S. FDA. Counterfeit versions of the C-A-T tourniquet have catastrophically failed during actual life-saving applications. The Counterfeit Report found of 89,000 counterfeit, fake and replica products on Amazon, eBay and Walmart's websites. Over 24,000 have been reported sold by the websites.
4. Counterfeit iPhone® chargers are a particularly common and dangerous online product. In addition to explosions, fires and injuries, they may prove deadly. An Underwriters Lab ("UL") test of 400 iPhone chargers purchased online revealed some shocking results - 397 failed high voltage tests. Just 3 passed, and twelve were so poorly designed and constructed that they posed a risk of lethal electrocution to the user. Sheryl Aldeguer, 28 was electrocuted by a faulty $4.99 charger in 2014, just after a flight attendant was electrocuted by her faulty third-party iPhone charger. Apple Inc. says it has been buying Apple chargers and cables labeled as genuine directly from Amazon, and found nearly 90% of them to be counterfeit.
5. Your life literally could ride on this suspension part. Group-A Autosports®, manufactures the authentic Skunk2® vehicle lower suspension control arm. Counterfeits have been found, and repeatedly purchased on eBay, often from the same seller with dozens of listings. An automobile suspension part failure can cause a catastrophic accident with fatal consequences to those in, and around, the counterfeit equipped vehicle - yet the dangerous counterfeit product listings continue.

The Counterfeit Report sends infringement notices, authorized by the right holders or manufacturer, for removal of the counterfeit items from the e-commerce giant's websites. Alarmingly, while individual listings may be removed, the counterfeit items all remain - sellers can simply relist the counterfeit items.

The Counterfeit Report also notifies each websites general counsel or legal department of the potentially fatal products;

• eBay General Counsel, Marie Oh Huber, acknowledged receipt of repeated emails, and multiple requests that eBay notify all purchasers of the dangerous and potentially deadly products - but she never responded. The Counterfeit Report never received any notification from eBay that any fake product purchased through its various test accounts were dangerous or potentially deadly. Alarmingly, eBay went so far as to block all test purchase accounts and purchases by The Counterfeit Report, and by extension any protections afforded eBay consumers.
• Emails sent to Amazon's Associate Counsel and Head of Product Integrity, Melissa Kriz, and legal department were acknowledged, but went unanswered for over a year. Amazon presents prohibitively time consuming and expensive obstacles for manufacturers and right holders attempting to protect their trademarked items and remove counterfeit products. Inexplicably, after a counterfeit listing is removed, consumers could still purchase the exact same counterfeit item, with the same listing ID on other Amazon global websites, as Amazon requires that; “Your trademark, patent, or design must be in "registered" status in the country or territory were the infringement is happening; counterfeit or not.”
• Walmart's legal department didn't respond, but sent repeat auto-response robo-messages asking for additional information to supplement their woefully inadequate and dysfunctional (limited to just 250 characters) infringing product reporting system. Inarguably fake items remain despite months of notifications, and even test purchases.

Buyers should be very wary of purchasing any trademarked item unless it comes directly from the manufacturer or authorized retailer. Counterfeiters and dishonest sellers are very good at creating visually deceptive products, packaging, holograms, certification labels and documentation that easily deceive consumers.

Companies that facilitate criminal activity and profit from dishonest sales which impact consumer safety, jobs and public trust create a public perception of deception and impunity. However, their reputation damage is inconsequential to the real problem: the value of counterfeit and pirated goods is forecast¹ to grow to $2.8 trillion, and cost 5.4 million net job losses by 2022, while legitimate manufacturers' brand integrity is tarnished or destroyed.

Answers - Counterfeit Product identification: All the products on the left side in the product pairings are authentic.

Footnote:
¹ THE ECONOMIC COSTS OF COUNTERFEITING AND PIRACY
The report was prepared for The International Chamber of Commerce, Business Action to Stop Counterfeiting and Piracy unit (ICC BASCAP) and The International Trademark Association (INTA)
January 2017 - Frontier Economics, Ltd.

21 US Code §321 (g)(1)
The term “drug” means (A) articles recognized in the official United States Pharmacopoeia, official Homeopathic Pharmacopoeia of the United States, or official National Formulary, or any supplement to any of them; and (B) articles intended for use in the diagnosis, cure, mitigation, treatment, or prevention of disease in man or other animals; and (C) articles (other than food) intended to affect the structure or any function of the body of man or other animals; and (D) articles intended for use as a component of any article specified in clause (A), (B), or (C). A food or dietary supplement for which a claim, subject to sections 343(r)(1)(B) and of this title or sections 343(r)(1)(B) and 343(r)(5)(D) of this title, is made in accordance with the requirements of section 343(r) of this title is not a drug solely because the label or the labeling contains such a claim. A food, dietary ingredient, or dietary supplement for which a truthful and not misleading statement is made in accordance with section 343(r)(6) of this title is not a drug under clause (C) solely because the label or the labeling contains such a statement.

The term “counterfeit drug” means a drug which, or the container or labeling of which, without authorization, bears the trademark, trade name, or other identifying mark, imprint, or device, or any likeness thereof, of a drug manufacturer, processor, packer, or distributor other than the person or persons who in fact manufactured, processed, packed, or distributed such drug and which thereby falsely purports or is represented to be the product of, or to have been packed or distributed by, such other drug manufacturer, processor, packer, or distributor.