Most people know that handbags and digital goods are counterfeited around the world. These popular targets are easy (or feasible) to make and sell for a lot of money.
For example, skilled craftsmen in poor countries can make a remarkably real-looking name-brand handbag with relatively little capital equipment and proprietary knowledge. Even if this knockoff is sold for a fraction of the real good’s price, the counterfeiters still makes a handsome profit.
For software, the profit margins are even higher: simply crack one copy of Microsoft Windows and counterfeiters can sell thousands of them for the minimal cost of blank CDs.
These two examples of well-known pirating aren’t that harmful, except that they hurt the profit margins of legitimate businesses and the money earned sometimes fund unsavory entities and activities.
However, unbeknownst to many, counterfeiting is much more than just handbags and digital content. In some of these less known but highly lucrative fields of counterfeiting, the fake products can be quite harmful to consumers.
In certain (often remote) parts of China, there rather sophisticated and large-scale factories that manufacture fake popular Western prescription drugs.The key is getting the bottle, labels, and physical attributes of the pills right. As for the actual efficacy of the drugs, some of the counterfeiters try to replicate the real thing while others don’t even bother.For those who don’t brother, at least they don’t get it wrong and thus avoid actively harming the users. However, for patients who depend on their drugs for critical health conditions, non-working placebos place them in grave danger.Some of the Chinese counterfeit drugs may possibly have included “Plavix, a blood thinner, Casodex, a hormone treatment for prostate cancer, and Zyprexa, a schizo-phrenia treatment,” according to an undercover investigation by UK’s The Times.As for the manufacturers who try to get the efficacy of the drugs right, they often get it wrong and thus actively put patients in harm’s way.
Reuters'Marlboro Lights' are a thing of the past, but researchers say 'Marlboro Golds' convey the same message.ReutersLast year, officials in Ireland issued a warning about counterfeit brake pads that don’t meet official standards. These products were labeled with brands like Volkswagen.They were found to have 30 percent less braking efficiency than genuine brake pads, reported The Telegraph.US-based Consumer Reports also said some counterfeit brake pads were found to be made with “kitty litter, sawdust, and dried grass.”Needless to say, faulty counterfeit brake pads are lethal.
ReutersThe Los Angeles Police Department recently seized over $10 million in counterfeit iPods, iPhones, and other items, reported the Los Angeles Times.These knockoffs apparently look very real but doesn’t sync up with iTunes the way a real Apple product would.While Apple product counterfeits may seem harmless, the counterfeiting of electronic products isn’t.For example, counterfeit cell phone batteries have reportedly caused cell phones to explode and resulted in some serious injuries and even deaths.
ReutersIn 2007, it was discovered that Colgate toothpaste was being counterfeited. These fakes contained diethylene glycol -- a chemical toxic to humans that’s used in antifreeze -- instead of fluoride.These toothpaste tubes, labeled “Manufactured in South Africa,” were sold in discount stores in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Maryland before they were recalled.The counterfeiters in this case were rather careless; their labels contained misspellings like "SOUTH AFRLCA" and " Dental Assoxiation." Moreover, Colgate actually doesn’t import US-sold toothpaste from South Africa.
Reuters
