With about eight weeks left before Christmas, consumers aren’t the only ones preparing themselves for the holiday shopping season.
It’s a busy time too for counterfeiters, who will ply anything from cell phones and sports jerseys to perfume and glue guns.
“There's two kinds of things being counterfeited and therefore two kinds of things being seized – anything and everything,” lawyer Lorne Lipkus said on Monday.
“Counterfeit brake pads failed as a result of which there was an accident and a mother with a child in the car lost her life. A child used a counterfeit Game Boy charger and electrocuted himself.”
The Canadian Anti-Counterfeiting Network knows the risks and has launched its 2010 Reality Tour to train law enforcement and border officials in Toronto, Saskatoon and Vancouver to spot counterfeit and pirated goods.
"Counterfeit products like children's toys, fake pharmaceuticals, shoddy electrical components, counterfeit auto and airplane parts and counterfeit DVDs can be easily found in the Canadian marketplace," said CACN Chair Brian Isaac.
"These products not only rob legitimate manufacturers and the Canadian economy from revenues, but often finances organized criminals and places lives in danger."
Counterfeiting is a $450 billion industry worldwide, which accounts for about five to seven per cent of global trade. Buying these goods can mean supporting crime and slave labour.
HOW TO SPOT A FAKE
This holiday season, check it twice to ensure you're not buying counterfeit products. Counterfeits are made cheaply and usually with little regard for consumer safety. The best bet is the buy the real thing.
How do I know if the product I'm buying is counterfeit? Some things to watch for:
- Products (particularly electrical products) that have no name brand
- The price is much lower than average
- Spelling mistakes on the product or packaging
- Products normally sold in packages being sold individually
- Shoddy appearance of the product or package
Source: Canadian Anti-Counterfeiting Network