Consumers Face Confidence Trap With Counterfeit Products

Los Angeles, CA, May 13, 2014 – Consumers are easily deceived and often uninformed, misled and cheated according to a recent consumer survey and industry studies. Close to half of consumers believe that a counterfeit product does the job just as well as the genuine product, yet  97 percent of consumers surveyed wanted more information so they can identify counterfeits. Legitimate retailers and manufacturer’s struggle, and consumers are getting hurt. 

Counterfeiting is now the largest and most profitable global criminal enterprise, and will reach $1.7 trillion (yes trillion) in 2015 says the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC). That’s ten times the transaction revenue of Sears (SHLD), J.C. Penney (JCP) and Amazon (AMZN) combined.   

What consumers don’t know;

• Counterfeit pharmaceuticals kill over 500,000 people a year. A National Association of Boards of Pharmacy (NABP) analysis showed that 97 percent of the more 10,000 online sites selling prescription medications were operating illegally or not following pharmacy laws and standards.


• The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) says that 500,000 counterfeit aircraft parts are installed on commercial aircraft each year. 


• The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) estimates that 250,000 counterfeit airbags are installed in US automobiles and will not function properly, if at all.


• Counterfeits are common on e-commerce websites including eBay, Amazon and Alibaba. According to lawsuits by the plaintiff companies, 90% of Louis Vuitton products sold online and 70% of Tiffany products sold on eBay are counterfeit.


• The National Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) Center, of which the FBI is a partner, reports that counterfeit cosmetics often contain ingredients such as arsenic, beryllium, and cadmium (all known carcinogens) along with high levels of aluminum and dangerous levels of bacteria, as well as DEHP, classified by the Environmental Protection Agency as a probable human carcinogen.

Overconfident consumers will easily fall victim to counterfeit purchases usually through e-commerce websites, and largely unaware that they are putting themselves at risk of inferior product performance, health and safety risks, and even death.

Website: www.TheCounterfeitReport.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Counterfeit-Report/131568053660579
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