DECEMBER 2016

New Year’s Eve partygoers warned to beware of fake alcohol that could contain lethal ingredients

British New Year‘s Eve partygoers have been urged to avoid cheap alcohol containing potential deadly ingredients found in antifreeze. The Local Government Association (LGA), which represents more than 370 councils in England and Wales, has issued the warning after tests on one seized stash of counterfeit vodka found dangerous quantities of cleaning products and paint solvent. READ MORE>>>

Counterfeit Golf Clubs Lawsuit In Indianapolis

  • By Staff, December 30, 2016, WIBQ

Carmel, Ind (WIBQ) –  A Carmel business owner is being sued by several luxury golf companies.  . READ MORE>>>

$32 Million Worth of Fake Nike and Adidas Sneakers Have Been Seized by Authorities

  • By Scott Christian, December 29, 2016, Esquire

Customs officials in Chile hit the motherlode last month when they reportedly seized nearly $32 million worth of counterfeit Adidas and Nike sneakers. According to Ricardo Aceituno, Chile’s regional director of customs, the seizure took place on November 7 in a town called Iquique. READ MORE>>>

Alleged counterfeit sneakers worth R8,7 million seized at Lebombo border

JOHANNESBURG – South African Revenue Service (Sars) customs has seized suspected counterfeit sneakers worth R8,7 million at the Lebombo Border Post. READ MORE>>>

Counterfeit mobil oil worth millions recovered

SADIQABAD-The police claimed to have recovered a huge quantity of low quality mobil oil during a raid on General Bus Stand here. According to police, a City Police contingent, on a tip-off, raided the storeroom of General Bus Stand and recovered a huge quantity of substandard mobil oil, worth millions of rupees. The culprits, involved in the sale of the commodity, managed to escape the scene. The police registered case against the accused and started investigation. READ MORE>>>

China’s cancer patients gamble on grey market

  • By Adam Jourdan, December 27, 2016, DAWN

SHANGHAI: When her father’s lung cancer worsened, Yin Min, a 51-year-old financial broker from Shanghai, faced a choice: pay nearly $3,000 a month for an approved drug or pay a fraction of the price for a generic drug not approved for use in China. READ MORE>>>

B130m in contraband medicine and cigarettes seized

  • By Pawat Laopaisarntaksin, December 27, 2016, Bangkok Post

The Customs Department has seized more than 130 million baht worth of medicine and foreign cigarettes as part of a concerted effort to crack down on smuggled, counterfeit and unpaid tax products. READ MORE>>>

Nigerian customs stops 2.75 tons of potentially deadly fake plastic rice from hitting markets

  • By Cat DiStasio, December 25, 2016, Inhabitat

Customs agents in Nigeria recently intercepted nearly three tons of “plastic rice,” which could have wreaked havoc on the area population, where real rice is a staple food. The incoming shipment of fake rice was packaged in large bags just as the genuine article would be, and the counterfeit product looks and feels just like the real thing. The chief of customs in Nigeria told the BBC he believed the rice was intended to be sold in markets during the upcoming holiday season, and nobody is certain what might have happened if people cooked and ate these plastic grains. READ MORE>>>

Massive hauls of fake goods seized at UK borders

  • By Staff Writer, December 23, 2016, AOL

More than 83,000 items were confiscated at airports in a single operation across six days. READ MORE>>>

Turkey passes new law to fight counterfeit goods

The Turkish parliament has passed new laws to crack down on counterfeit goods. The Grand National Assembly of Turkey ratified new legislation on industrial property rights late Wednesday. . READ MORE>>>

Fake Adidas, Nike and Prada goods worth £2m seized in Manchester raids

  • By Staff Writer, December 21, 2016, BBC

Counterfeit goods with an estimated street value of more than £2m, including one shop’s entire stock, have been seized in raids in Manchester. READ MORE>>>

US launches clampdown on fake electronics

The US authorities have launched an initiative targeting illegal imports of unsafe counterfeit consumer electronics.Operation Surge Protector – organised by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) in targeting electronic goods known to present health and safety hazards by overheating, igniting, and causing severe injuries and extensive property damage. READ MORE>>>

Alcohol poisoning from counterfeit bath lotion kills at least 49 in Russia

The death toll from alcohol poisoning in a Siberian city rose to at least 49 Monday after the victims consumed a counterfeit bath lotion containing deadly methanol. READ MORE>>>

50mm fraud! Canon warns users against fake 50mm f/1.8 lenses as counterfeits appear at service center

Canon is warning users that they might be using counterfeit lenses. Canon’s service center has seen a number of EF 50mm f/1.8 II lenses that are not genuine Canon products, despite looking almost exactly like the real deal lens, at least externally. READ MORE>>>

High end counterfeit goods manufacturers busted by National Police

MASSIVE operation which produced high quality fake goods mainly sold in the Costa del Sol has been broken up by the National Police who have arrested 55 people.  The items were so well made and so difficult to distinguish from the originals that these goods sold at prices from €100 to €400 and the whole network was first reported when an international handbag manufacturer appointed a private detective to try to identify the source of the faked items which were flooding the Costa del Sol. READ MORE>>>

Customs seizes HK$10 million in fake products at popular Hong Kong street market in largest counterfeit haul in years

  • By Clifford Lo, December 16, 2016, Consumers

Watches, handbags and leather goods said to have sold at Ladies Market at five to 20 per cent of genuine products’ price. READ MORE>>>

Operation sees £1 million of counterfeit items seized

  • By Luke Jarmyn, December 15, 2016, Campaign

A MAJOR operation involving the Caerphilly County Borough Council Trading Standards team has resulted in £1 million worth of products being seized. READ MORE>>>

Almost £3.5 million of suspected counterfeit goods seized at Wellesbourne Market

Police seized suspected counterfeit goods worth almost £3.5 million being sold at Wellesbourne Market this weekend. READ MORE>>>

£1.7m One Direction counterfeit ring raided in Formby

  • By Joe Thomas, December 13, 2016, Echo

2,000 dodgy Jo Malone candles could also have been produced in huge operation. READ MORE>>>

RW101 unearths fake Scotch worth £850,000

Rare whisky index, valuation and brokerage firm Rare Whisky 101 (RW101) has discovered a counterfeit haul of rare Scotch malt whisky, including a fake bottle of Laphroaig 1903. READ MORE>>>

How to spot if your designer handbag is real or fake

Buying a designer handbag is a huge investment, and no-one wants to splash the cash only to find it’s actually a fake. READ MORE>>>

How to Avoid Getting Scammed With Fake Yeezys

There’s no denying that Adidas Originals and Kanye West’s Yeezy Boost sneakers are at the top of countless holiday wish lists this year, but actually getting your hands on a pair of the coveted kicks is easier said than done. Yeezys have managed to transcend the sneaker community, winning over everyone from celebrities to soccer moms without losing their core appeal, which means demand is higher than it’s ever been. And despite a steady uptick in production numbers, every release continues to be met with the same enthusiasm, selling out instantaneously. READ MORE>>>

BBB: Counterfeiting goods a $500B business

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) estimates that global imports of counterfeit and pirated goods amount to nearly a half trillion dollars a year. That’s 2.5 percent of all global trade. READ MORE>>>

Wine detective on a mission to track down counterfeits

  • By Staff Writer, December 10, 2016, CBS News

Today, growing worldwide demand has encouraged far more fraud in the wine world. That’s created a whole new line of work for those with a keen eye and nose for a bogus bottle, reports CBS News correspondent Jonathan Vigliotti. READ MORE>>>

Man caught running international counterfeit Ford ring from his garage

  • By Staff Writer, December 9, 2016, ie

A COUNTY ANTRIM businessman who ran an international counterfeiting operation from his garage in Templepatrick has been given a suspended jail sentence at Laganside Courts today. READ MORE>>>

Gardaí seize lots of counterfeit goods in Christmas crackdown

  • By Staff Writer, December 9, 2016, ie

GARDAÍ IN DUBLIN have seized a number of handbags and other items as part of a crackdown on counterfeit goods ahead of Christmas. READ MORE>>>

Toronto Police seize $2.5 million in counterfeit goods as holiday season starts

  • By Evelyn Kwong, December 9, 2016, com

As the holiday season approaches, Toronto Police are warning the public to be vigilant with their gift-giving after they seized $2.5 million in counterfeit goods. READ MORE>>>

Cartier sues jewellery company in counterfeiting suit

France-based luxury goods company Cartier has sued a US jewellery firm in a trademark infringement and counterfeiting suit. READ MORE>>>

More than £1.5 million of counterfeit goods seized at East Midlands Airport

Counterfeit designer label handbags, shoes and underwear are among tens of thousands of fake items seized by at East Midlands Airport in the run up to Christmas. READ MORE>>>

Reports of counterfeit cosmetics being sold in Durham

  • By Staff Writer, December 7, 2016, itv

A warning has been issued about the potential health risks of buying counterfeit cosmetic products, after reports of them being sold online from Durham. READ MORE>>>

Snuggie Maker Sues Amazon Over Counterfeit Blankets

  • By Christina Warren, December 7, 2016, Gizmodo-UK

Allstar Marketing Group—makers of the Snuggie (you know, the blanket with sleeves!)—is suing Amazon over trademark infringement because of all the Snuggie counterfeits that litter the online marketplace. READ MORE>>>

Terrorism Financing Continues Despite Changing Circumstances

  • By Steve Emerson, December 7, 2016, NewsMax

Terrorists increasingly are diversifying their funding sources to support their violent and nefarious activities. That includes various criminal activities. READ MORE>>>

Indian-made fake erectile dysfunction meds seized in Switzerland en route from Serbia

Fake erectile dysfunction drugs found in Serbian coaches entering Switzerland were made in India according to regulator Swissmedic. READ MORE>>>

SKF Participates in Raids against Retailers of Counterfeit Bearings

GOTHENBURG, Sweden–(BUSINESS WIRE)–SKF (STO:SKFB) (STO:SKFA) (Pink Sheets:SKFRY) (LSE:SKFB) has participated in three simultaneous raids against retailers of counterfeit bearings in China. The raids, which were led by Chinese police, resulted in the seizure of counterfeit bearings which may otherwise have been sold to industrial customers and end-users. READ MORE>>>

Counterfeit products cost Malta €43 million in losses every year

A European Union study has placed Malta’s losses from counterfeit products at €43 million annually, with wines and spirits surpassing the EU average.  READ MORE>>>

IPR in Bangladesh

In 2008, the local agent of the world famous Samsonite Corporation in Bangladesh initiated a criminal proceeding under the Penal Provision against a trader who imported counterfeit ‘Samsonite’ products.

The agent carried out investigation in the local markets through their own investigator and found counterfeit products in a famous market ‘Shahbagh Biponi Bitan.’ Accordingly, the agent informed the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB, special law enforcement battalion in Bangladesh) of this. The RAB team investigated the place and found the allegation to be true. It conducted raid on February 27, 2008 and arrested three people with a large number of counterfeit ‘Samsonite’ products. READ MORE>>>

Fake U.S. embassy shut down in Ghana after issuing visas for 10 years

  • By Kenneth Goh, December 4, 2016, CBS News

A fake U.S. embassy in Accra, Ghana that was issuing both counterfeit and legitimate U.S. visas was shut down over the summer after operating unhindered for about a decade, the U.S. State Department said. READ MORE>>>

€120,000 worth of counterfeit goods seized in Limerick

Reader Boey San Fei wrote in to ask about basmati rice: “If we suspect the rice that we have bought is fake, where do we send it for verification?” Food reporter Kenneth Goh finds out.  READ MORE>>>

UPDATE | Four arrested, charged after three million dollars in counterfeit goods seized at Augusta flea markets

  • By Staff, December 4, 2016, WRDW 12

RICHMOND COUNTY, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) — Four suspects have been arrested and charged after Richmond County deputies seized about three million dollars worth of counterfeit merchandise from two flea markets in Richmond County.  READ MORE>>>

How to sift real rice from the fake

Reader Boey San Fei wrote in to ask about basmati rice: “If we suspect the rice that we have bought is fake, where do we send it for verification?” Food reporter Kenneth Goh finds out.  READ MORE>>>

Shipping stakeholders sign pact against counterfeit goods

Brand owners and representatives from the international shipping industry have joined forces in signing a declaration of intent to prevent the maritime transport of counterfeit goods.  READ MORE>>>

 Large haul of fake erectile stimulants seized

Border guards have seized large quantities of counterfeit medicaments, designed to enhance sexual potency, at a border crossing in recent weeks. The fake erectile stimulants, some originating from India, were found on coaches arriving from Serbia.  READ MORE>>>

NAFDAC destroys N30m fake, counterfeit medicines in Ilorin

Fake, counterfeit medicines and other regulated products worth over N30 million were on Thursday destroyed by the National Agency for Foods and Drugs Administration and Control (NAFDAC) in Ilorin, the Kwara State capital. READ MORE>>>

Police Seize More Than 11,000 Counterfeit Cellphones In Southern Brooklyn

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) — Police in Brooklyn announced Thursday that they have seized thousands of phony cellphones in a series of busts. READ MORE>>>

Though awash in fakes, China rethinks counterfeit hunters

BEIJING — Mr Ji Wanchang strolled through a Beijing luxury mall one recent morning with an eye out for luxury coats. But at one store, a clerk told him a fur-collared Moncler and other coats were “sample sizes” and not for sale. READ MORE>>>