Counterfeit goods: How to tell the real from the rip-off

As the world has grown smaller, more and more foreign-made goods are hitting our shores. Among them, a flood of fakes, fueled in part by the Internet and the ease with which we can buy products directly. Last year, U.S. law enforcement agencies—including U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations—shut down 29,684 websites that were illegally selling counterfeit goods online.

Buying counterfeit goods—whether online or in person—comes with a big risk. Not only do fakes cost U.S. businesses as much as $250 billion in lost trade annually, but many are also downright dangerous. Here, some of the latest to watch for:

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Many consumers know to look for the UL label, the safety seal that the independent Underwriters Laboratories puts on more than 22 billion products annually. Fraudsters create knockoff labels for appliances and electronics, particularly low-cost items such as power strips and extension cords as well as mobile-phone chargers and batteries, says UL’s consumer safety director, John Drengenberg. Manufacturing shortcuts on products with counterfeit UL labels could lead to fire and shock hazards, among other dangers. Some extension cords with fake labels, for example, have been found with copper wiring that’s inadequate to carry the appropriate current.

Toasters

In April 2013, customs officers intercepted 15,000 fake toasters smuggled into a Los Angeles-area seaport from China. They had the fake UL labels shown above left. (One hint: the misspelling in “ONE YEAN WARRANTY.”) As a deterrent, UL has redesigned its markin the form of a gold hologram with embedded codes and color-shifting ink, such as you’ll find on high-denomination U.S. currency.

Counterfeit small appliances can be deadly. The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) has warned people for years about products that lack a ground-fault circuit interrupter (GFCI), which protects against electrical shock.

Hair dryers

Like most fake hair dryers, the one shown was missing a GFCI, which can prevent electrocution if the dryer falls in water. The CPSC advises consumers to look for a large, rectangular-shaped plug at the end of the dryer cord indicating the presence of a GFCI, and certification from a recognized testing laboratory like UL on the dryer or its package.

Illicit aftermarket auto parts are showing up at an alarming rate, says Bruce Foucart, director of the National Intellectual Property Rights Coordination Center, led by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The parts are usually smuggled into the U.S. and bought by independent stores—sometimes knowingly, sometimes not. “At best, these parts will not perform as well as authentic ones,” Foucart says. “At worst, they can fail catastrophically, with potentially fatal consequences.” Most vehicle components can be faked.

As a general rule, consumers are best off buying auto parts from authorized dealers and retailers.If you shop elsewhere, make sure that you inspect the packaging carefully for the correct brand name, logo, and graphics. Andbe wary of subtle differences in artwork, colors, fonts, and spel-ling (for instance, “AZDelco” instead of “ACDelco”). Amazingly low prices should send up ared flag, too.

Airbags

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) says that counterfeit airbags are sold as replacement parts for vehicles that have been in a crash. They look almost identical to original equipment, including bearing the brands of major automakers—but NHTSA testing found that fakes consistently malfunctioned. Some didn’t deploy, and others expelled metal shrapnel during deployment. In 2014, a Canadian man was sentenced to six months in prison for selling more than $33,000 worth of fake BMW, Toyota, and Honda airbags (shown above). They were sourced from China and sold on eBay for about a year, according to U.S. officials. Court records show that in follow-up testing, a bag failed to deploy as designed and shot flames from the top and bottom.

Brake pads

Avoid the temptation to save a few bucks. Counterfeit brakes have been discovered with poor-quality steel backing plates and weak or no shim bonding to the backplate, according to the Ford Motor Company. Fakes are often made from compressed wood chips and sawdust.