South Texas, beware of fake Sex in the City!
Counterfeiting is on the rise throughout the region and it’s not just in fake money.
Although locales, such as La Vernia, New Braunfels and Boerne have seen some recent activity with counterfeit $20 bills, criminal movement has been rapidly expanding into other areas…including “Sex in the City.”
Counterfeit drugs, perfumes, purses, shoes, professional sports league clothing and even identification are increasing throughout the state.
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The U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) reported on February 7, 2012, that they seized imports of counterfeit perfume valued at nearly $51 million during fiscal year 2011 throughout the country.
OFTEN CAUSE SERIOUS INJURY
Citizens should know that these counterfeit products not only are a theft from the brand owners, and cause economic harm to America, but some items such as fake perfume, shampoo, and lotions can often be contaminated with unknown chemicals that can cause serious injury.
"The growing number of foreign websites that offer counterfeit or stolen goods continues to threaten American technology, products and jobs," San Antonio U.S. representative Lamar Smith recently said.
Smit, is the sponsor of a Stop Online Piracy Act, which he describes as a way to deal with “a vast virtual market online run by criminals who steal and sell America’s intellectual property and keep the profits for themselves.”
SEX IN THE CITY
Smith supports this measure after learning that illegal counterfeiting and piracy costs the American economy between $80 billion to $100 billion “and thousands of jobs every year. Congress cannot stand by and do nothing while some of America’s most profitable and productive industries are under attack.”
The fake perfume that CBP most frequently intercepted was counterfeit “Sex in the City” perfume based on the HBO movie and television series.
Just last month a San Antonio pastor and an assistant were indicted on charges of selling fake green cards and Social Security cards to illegal immigrants.
Recently, Louis Vuitton successfully sued the Eisenhower Flea Market for allowing vendors to continue to sell their popular brand counterfeit merchandise.
39 RAIDS A DAY
“In 2009, Louis Vuitton initiated 9,489 raids (39 per day) and 26,843 anti-counterfeiting procedures worldwide, resulting in the seizure of thousands of counterfeit products and the break- up of criminal networks, easing the plight of workers working for illegal organisations,” their company stated in a release. “The Internet division of the Intellectual Property Department registers domain names, fights cyber squatting and tracks counterfeiting online by monitoring the Internet, in particular search engines and market places. As a result, more than 430 litigious websites were shut down in 2009.”
Last year, CBP seized 52 shipments of goods infringing on various trademarks, including “Sex in the City.”
“The domestic value of the seized shipments, which contained more than one million pieces, was nearly $8 million,” CBP reports. “If the trademark had been genuine, the manufacturer’s suggested retail price of the perfume would have been more than $45 million.”
CBP says that in 2011, 24,792 seizures of counterfeit and pirated goods valued at a retail price of $1.1 billion were intercepted before entering the United States.
Before Christmas 2011, law enforcement officials and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement seized 327,000 counterfeit items worth almost $77 million, in their Operation Holiday Hoax II roundup.
By targeting stores, swap meets and flea markets in over 65 U.S. cities they were able to seize over double they caught in 2009, which resulted in about $26 million in fake items.
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