Catching The Counterfeiters - Case Study

Online marketplaces are, on the whole, a welcome – and necessary – part of life these days. We all use them. We all see their benefits.

But increasingly criminals are using Social Media and online marketplaces to sell counterfeit products or stolen products.
These products generally all impact on the reputation and balance sheet of legitimate companies and some also threaten the health and safety of consumers.

Many companies use technology to identify products being offered illegally online and then choose to enforce by “taking down” the sites or sales leads.
This activity rarely leads to a criminal conviction and the counterfeit product continues to be offered elsewhere by the sellers.

Surveillance expert, Antevorte, provides support to those who wish to take online investigations further, to gather evidence to secure criminal convictions and seize the product.

Antevorte is regularly asked by manufacturers or commercial enterprises to investigate the large scale sale of counterfeit items by Organised Crime Groups (OCGs) who use well-known online marketplaces.
A recent case involved a product that is rarely sold outside of clearly defined distribution channels.

“We made two small online purchases from the seller to allow for analysis of the product and to establish trust.
We then made phone calls to arrange a much larger purchase at a face-to-face meeting.
An undercover operative was deployed to make the purchase; the meeting was recorded, and a surveillance team used to observe and then follow the seller, in this case a young male.
As a result of further purchases and surveillance, we were able to identify not only several associates, but also the ‘stash’ where the counterfeits were being stored.”

Due to the extent of our surveillance evidence, all involved pleaded guilty to a number of offences. Following a police investigation, the individual who had supplied the counterfeit items to the group was also identified and arrested. Upon arrest, this supplier was found to be in possession of millions of counterfeit products. Additional investigation even led to the manufacturer being identified and arrested.”

As a result of the work carried out by Antevorte, all those connected to this particular case were found to be involved in International Organised Crime and received substantial prison sentences. The criminality included human trafficking, drugs and prostitution.