BEWARE OF THE KNOCK-OFFS
From phoney pharmaceuticals to knock-off Nikes, fake billion consumer goods are big business, reaching $500 worldwide, writes PATRICK LANGSTON.
How to protect yourself from fake — and dangerous — consumer goods,
PLUS: Top tax-filing tips
You’re cruising your favourite discount store and pick up an extension cord marked for heavy-duty use with a Canadian Standards Association sticker, the usual insignia of safety. “Must be safe for a hair dryer,” you think. But when you fire up the dryer, the cord starts to melt. You trace the CSA number and find it’s legitimate — for an electric pencil sharpener. The cord, in other words, is counterfeit — almost certainly meaning inferior materials and/or design — using the CSA sticker to masquerade as the real thing.
That would make it one of countless counterfeit products from car parts to sneakers to pharmaceuticals plaguing the marketplace.
“It’s a big issue and it’s happening rapidly in this country,” says Wayne Edwards, chair of the Canadian Anti-Counterfeiting Network (CACN) and vice-president of Electrical Safety with the Electro-Federation Canada, a national association of electrical, electronics and telecommunications companies.
Counterfeit goods, says Edwards, are part of a $500-billion business worldwide. The products are sold online, through retail stores, at flea markets and elsewhere. They can be dangerous, according to Edwards, who gives that phoney extension cord as an example. What if you plugged, say, a slow cooker into it and went for a walk? “Maybe it would burn your house down. Or burn your children. Or maybe nothing would happen.”
It’s not worth gambling to save a few dollars.
Counterfeiting has long been a problem for Canada Goose Inc., which manufactures high-quality and pricey parkas. The products are never discounted by authorized outlets (they’re listed on the company’s website canada-goose.com and there’s a link for identifying counterfeit dealers), yet last year alone, more than 2,000 websites worldwide were selling “Canada Goose” coats at a fraction of the retail price, which can range into the hundreds of dollars.
Instead of the coyote fur trim and the duck- and goose-down filling, the fakes are trimmed with dog or raccoon fur; the stuffing may contain mould, mildew and feces. The products, like many counterfeits, are usually made in China.
Last year, Canada Goose won a case against five Swedes for selling fake coats, but the Internet still abounds with sites advertising Canada Goose items at fire-sale prices.
Apparel and footwear accounted for about 45 per cent of the bogus products seized by the RCMP in 2012. Harmful counterfeit goods, meanwhile, increased from 11.5 per cent of cases documented by the RCMP in 2005 to 30.4 per cent last year.
Consumer electronics and personal care items — shampoo, makeup and the like — are among those dangerous products, according to Kevin Fahey of the National RCMP Intellectual Property Rights Section.
Counterfeit personal care products can cause allergic reactions or burns, while a fake smartphone charger could electrocute you.
Fahey says the RCMP’s focus on pursuing health and safety-related counterfeits rather than an actual increase in their availability could explain the apparent spike in harmful items.
What is certain is that counterfeit goods are “coming through legitimate transportation means, like regular shipping routes. If they’re shipped with regular goods then you wouldn’t know what to look for.”
While the CACN has warned that counterfeit goods have infiltrated reputable retail chains, Fahey says they’re more likely to be found in dollar stores, flea markets, and sometimes the kiosks that pop up in shopping malls especially at Christmas. There have also been cases of small, independent stores carrying ersatz products possibly acquired online.
Usually if a price seems too good to be true, it is. When it comes to the Internet, however, Fahey notes a new trend: counterfeit products being offered just below the usual retail price. People assume it’s the real deal on sale and order it.
In some cases, you could end up buying fake Nikes that fall apart after a few weeks. You’ve wasted your money, possibly contributed to the growth of organized crime, which law enforcement agencies say is involved in counterfeit products and likely helped make life miserable for badly treated employees of overseas factories producing this junk.
But it’s unlikely you’re in any physical danger. That’s not the case with sham batteries that could explode or a hockey helmet that could split on impact, resulting in a serious head injury or even death.
Danger can also lurk in cheap, online pharmaceuticals.
Questionable drug websites typically specialize in fractured English (one tip-off that a product may be counterfeit) and suspiciously low prices. Cialis, a popular medication for erectile dysfunction and other woes, can cost as little as $1.31 per 20-milligram pill online. Pharmacies sell the drug at around $18 per pill.
You’d think that such price discrepancies would be enough to alert people to steer clear, but the counterfeit drug business hit $75 billion in annual sales in 2010, according to a study recently reported in International Business Times. The study found that the fake drugs can contain arsenic, shoe polish and other nasty ingredients.
Even our national sport isn’t immune from fakery.
Just after the Vancouver 2010 Olympics, the RCMP seized 16,000 imitation Team Canada and NHL hockey jerseys.
It was one more instance of the fake NHL jersey industry that’s reportedly gone viral since 2008 with fans snapping up counterfeit goods for $38 compared to as much as $400 for an official jersey.
Sometimes an item is clearly fraudulent: poor stitching on supposedly high-end footwear, for example. In other cases, the counterfeiting is hard to detect. Even holograms, meant to identify a product as genuine, are imitated.
To complicate the situation, Edwards says manufacturers can be reluctant to broadcast counterfeiting of their products.
“If you make water heaters and you say they’re getting knocked off, contractors could start looking somewhere else.”
Caveat emptor, it seems, is still the rule when it comes to shopping.