Counterfeits Run Rampant This Holiday Season

Times are tough, and most people are understandably pinching every penny this holiday season. Every consumer is looking for bargains, and most retailers are doing their best to deliver with hopes of boosting sales and rejuvenating the economy with a strong finish in 2004. Of course, some of most impressive discounting is found on the Internet and on big city street corners. Designer handbags, luxury brand watches and costly cosmetics are all available at remarkably low prices. It is inevitable that many of these seemingly big-ticket items will find their way into stockings and festively-wrapped packages all over America, and their recipients will likely say, "You shouldn't have!"

Good news. They didn't.

That's because these great deals are the product of the world's most profitable and least contested criminal industry… counterfeiting. As technology advances, what used to be cheaply-constructed, obvious knockoffs are now looking more and more like the real deal. Accurate logos and improved quality are making counterfeits harder to identify to the average consumer, and many naïve shoppers are duped into buying phony merchandise from street side vendors and online auctioneers.

Kessler International, a global anti-counterfeiting firm headquartered in New York City, recently conducted a survey on New York's Canal Street, widely known as the counterfeit capital of the United States. Kessler staffers held various designer items side-by-side with counterfeit versions purchased at local shops, and challenged passersby to pick out the fakes. Incredibly, even these savvy NYC natives were not able to recognize which items were phony. In the handbag challenge, respondents only managed a 59% success rate, and when it came to identifying watches, correct responses dipped to a mere 44%.

"This simple study shows exactly how powerful the counterfeiting business has become," said Michael Kessler, president of Kessler International and 20-year veteran of the anti-counterfeiting industry. "If the fashion-conscious community in New York can't tell what's real, there's a very good chance that people are being swindled at an even greater rate elsewhere in the nation."

While big cities are considered hotbeds for counterfeit goods, the business has begun to spread across the country, thanks in great part to the Internet. Online shopping has become so prevalent, that many citizens have vowed to avoid malls and take care of all their holiday business in cyberspace. Unfortunately, the web is crawling with phony merchandise, and telling a good deal from a real steal is even harder when you can't see what you're buying up close. In the end, thousands of people will be on the receiving end of fraudulent merchandise this holiday season, and many of those who thought they found the deal of the century will find out they were gypped.

So how can the average consumer tell if what they are spending their hard-earned money on is genuine? How can you tell if you're getting a steal of a deal or an overpriced illegal replica? Keep an eye out for these warning signs:

• Suspicious stores. If you're not shopping at a major retailer or a designer boutique, you might be on the wrong side of the tracks. Street vendors, consignment shops and private selling parties are all major red flags. Merchandise never "falls off the truck."

• Poor craftsmanship. For most upscale brands, even the smallest detail out of place is unacceptable, and for luxury goods, it's almost unheard of. If you notice frayed threads, misspelled words, misaligned logos, color blemishes, unsightly packaging or cheap materials, chances are you're looking at a fake.

• No return policies. Any reputable dealer will be willing to replace defective or unwanted merchandise, because that item is backed up by the manufacturer. If the seller tells you that all sales are final, it's probably phony.

• Cash only transactions. No authorized retailer of designer goods would ever insist on cash. If you can't pay with a credit card or check, it's because the seller doesn't want you to have a record of the transaction.

• Lack of warranty information. Genuine merchandise will be covered by a manufacturer's warranty for some time, and should be accompanied by a warranty card that gives return and repair policies. Products missing this information are likely counterfeit or diverted "gray market" items.

• Point of manufacture. Very few high-end products are made in China, Taiwan, Pakistan or similar locations where labor is cheap and counterfeiting is rampant. Chances are you won't see many "Made In" tags listing any of these places, but if you do, it's a dead giveaway that the product is bogus.

• Internet sales. Whether you're bidding in an auction or shopping on a commercial website, the probability of getting a counterfeit product increases dramatically. Just because someone says it's genuine doesn't mean it is. Trust nobody, and only do business with established online retailers (with a physical address) and auctioneers with exceptional feedback ratings.

• Unbelievably low prices. Simply put, if the price seems too good to be true, it is. Don't even consider it.