Fakes & Counterfeits - what do you get for your money?

Like many of the Christmases over the past years, mobile phones and accessories were among the most popular gifts. Unfortunately, many of these gifts were probably counterfeit.

The numbers are staggering…

According to a March 2017 report by the OECD, one in five mobile phones sold worldwide is counterfeit! These numbers are supported by a sector-specific analysis from the EU Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) covering 90 countries, which found that in 2015, 184 million smartphones were sold.

While African countries and emerging markets have long been the primary market for fake devices, the proliferation of e-commerce has also increased the sales of counterfeits and fakes worldwide, making it a truly global issue.

But what is a counterfeit device and what does it mean for the consumer?

Counterfeit mobile phones very often look and feel at first glance like the genuine device. Their outer shell and screen, the logos, the packaging and the included accessories are made to look like the real thing.

However, fake and counterfeit devices pose real dangers for the user, since by their nature they circumvent official checks and controls and rarely follow international standards for safety and security.

Most common drawbacks coming with counterfeits are: 

• they can contain hazardous substances in the hardware
•  they often come preloaded with malware and/or fake apps aiming to steel personal and banking information
•  they usually have poor performance with many call drop outs
• counterfeit accessories, especially chargers, are often a fire hazard
•  consumers have no warranty on these devices
•  in several countries, counterfeit devices get blocked from the mobile network

How to know if your device is counterfeit?

Together with Afilias, the Mobile & Wireless Forum (MWF) is testing a new device validation project. If you visit the www.spotafakephone.com website via your mobile phone, this embedded service can interrogate the device’s characteristics and compare these to those expected to be seen on a legitimate device. The user is then informed about what the device is saying about itself versus what kind of technical specifications would be found in the phone model it claims to be.

In case, you have doubts or realise that your device might be fake, you find some tips on how to report it here: http://spotafakephone.com/report-a-fake.cfm 

References and more information:

Tips on how to spot a fake phone: http://spotafakephone.com/how-to-tell.cfm

Report a fake phone: http://spotafakephone.com/report-a-fake.cfm 

Download the infographic: http://spotafakephone.com//docs/eng/MWF%5FCounterfeit%5FInfographic%2Epdf

Action Fraud article: https://www.actionfraud.police.uk/christmas

OECD Report: Trade in Counterfeit ICT Goods: http://www.oecd.org/gov/risk/trade-in-counterfeit-ict-goods-9789264270848-en.htm

EUIPO sector-specific analysis: The economic cost of IPR infringement in the smartphones sector: https://euipo.europa.eu/ohimportal/en/web/observatory/ipr-infringement-smartphone-sector