Back-to-school season is upon us. That’s good news for parents and shoppers who want to find great deals on clothes, shoes, and electronics. Unfortunately, it’s also the time of year when sophisticated counterfeiters prey on hurried shoppers and pass off fake goods as genuine items.

  • More shoppers are finding themselves victims of counterfeit goods.
  • Counterfeits and piracy impact every sector of the economy from toys, medicines, and electronics to automotive parts and even the military supply chain.
  • The National Crime Prevention Council estimates that more than 750,000 jobs are lost each year as a result of the production of fake goods.
  • Globally, the counterfeit trade has nearly doubled in value since 2008, amounting to $461 billion annually. That’s more than double the 2014 profits of the world’s top ten companies, combined.
  • Additionally, counterfeits pose real dangers– electronics that catch fire and harm consumers and fake medicines that make people sick.
  • Customs authorities around the world are only seizing as little as 2.5 percent of the value of total estimated counterfeits– just a drop in the bucket of the fakes being trafficked across borders.