Counterfeit goods caused an estimated $323 billion worth of damage to the global economy in 2018. For some consumers, those damages included bodily harm and even death. There are two main types of counterfeits, pirated and knock-off items.
Pirated goods are copyrighted works that have been reproduced and duplicated without permission from the owner. Pirated items are nearly indistinguishable from the real products they are trying to copy.
Knock-off goods are close imitations of copyrighted material and designer products. Knock-offs also can be easily recognized from what they are attempting to copy.
Fake goods are commonly found in seemingly innocent platforms such as search engines and mobile apps. In a 2018 test, the US Government Accountability Office found that over 2 out of every 5 of supposedly brand name products it purchased online were counterfeit.
Brands matter. The importance of avoiding fakes is enormous. Fakes can demolish the economy by forcing on Chinese manufacturers tariffs for reproducing and stealing intellectual property of US companies thereby raising prices as a whole. Counterfeit merchants can also much more easily steal personal and financial information from your computer and make copies of your credit card.
Find out how you can keep yourself safe from fake goods.
Infographic Courtesy of Best Choice Reviews https://www.bestchoicereviews.org/cost-of-counterfeits/
