Tag: counterfeit

Counterfeit and illicit trade are pervasive warns report

The Alliance for Gray Market and Counterfeit Abatement (AGMA), a non-profit organisation focused on intellectual property (IP) protection for the high-tech industry is warning that the counterfeit and illicit market in It is getting out of hand.

The Alliance has issued a report titled, “Brand Protection Insights from Industry Leaders in Grey Market, Counterfeit and IP Fraud Mitigation”, which spotlights the trends and challenges related to counterfeit, fraud, grey market risk and prevention, and supply chain security that are impacting the high-tech sector.

The report notes that E-commerce has been on a rapid growth trajectory, providing a large conduit for fraud. Fraudsters are savvier, sharing information among each other and producing counterfeit at an accelerated pace. Brand protection programs are being impacted in ways they never imagined, with increasing scope and scale. Mitigating counterfeits, reducing channel grey market and preventing various fraud are more crucial to brand survival than ever.

Counterfeit product web sites shuttered

policemanPolice have managed to shut down over two thousand websites since the year began.

The police worked with internet registers and brand protection associations to find the sites and close them.

The operation, dubbed Ashiko, has managed to close down 5,500 websites selling clothes, sunglasses, jewellery and other luxury products, according to the BBC.

Police said people should use their common sense when visiting web sites that appeared to offer bargains. Such sites often don’t bother too particularly with grammar and spelling.

People should also check whether or not there is a contact address, and should be careful they’re antivirus software is up to date, as the sites often contain malware or computer viruses.

People are also being warned not to clink on links in emails and beware of web sites that don’t start with the https prefix.