The Imitation Nation podcast covers all things counterfeit, reviewing the most recent news about counterfeit products, seizures, and prosecutions.
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In this episode of the Imitation Nation podcast, Sven and Shabbir explore the evolving landscape of counterfeit goods, from pharmaceuticals to luxury watches, and the technological innovations fighting back. They also discuss how counterfeiters adapt, the importance of brand protection, and the future of digital counterfeiting.
In this emergency episode Shabbir, Sven, and DSCSA expert Mark Karhoff talk about the new decision from the Fourth Circuit court of appeals in the Lanham Act case around Alternative Funding Programs, Gilead Sciences vs Meritain Health et al.
In this episode Shabbir and Sven talk about fake World Cup merch intercepted in Houston, following the US’s $600 million dollar fine for illegal drug, pill press, and chemical smuggling, Alibaba is facing another $600 million dollar fine from the EU on failing to do enough to detect fake products sales, and Sven takes us inside the Secret Services hunt for people trying to make the perfect fake hundred dollar bill. Check it out!
This week's episode of your Counterfeit New podcast, Imitation Nation, is now live! This week we feature news stories on somebody who was writing fake checks on behalf of a whole town, the perils of counterfeit World Cup merchandise, and a segment on a $600 million dollar judgment for the family who lost a loved one to faulty counterfeit airbags.
The big news in drug counterfeiting this week is a massive civil lawsuit brought by Gilead Sciences. Plus! Counterfeit sinks! And Counterfeit-Drug Christmas, also known as Operation Pangea. Check out the audio podcast here!
In this week's news wrap-up, Shabbir and Sven talk about counterfeit-drug literacy; some highly questionable substances found in counterfeit perfumes; an art forgery conviction covering fake work from Picasso, Warhol, and Banksy; and a genius in New Jersey who tried to sell counterfeit Airpods to the officers who pulled him over for a traffic infraction. This is the audio version of Eps 30.
In this week's news wrap-up, Shabbir and Sven talk about a seizure of illegal peptides in Cincinnati, an exciting new low-cost counterfeit-drug detector, a counterfeit currency "bill-washing" scheme, and some serious legal setbacks for Meta.
Today's brand new episode of the Imitation Nation Podcast is live! Episode #28! Topics in this episode include a guy who bought a $6 million dollar house with the profits from counterfeit stamps, the annual Notorious Markets Report, a man who tried to pay his court bond in counterfeit currency, Europol's latest Operation Shield, the sentencing of two co-conspirators for selling fake HIV medications, and a new anti-counterfeit measure in Australian postage stamps. Check out the full episode here!
In this week's Counterfeit News, Imitation Nation talks about a farm in Pennsylvania producing counterfeit meat; a patent infringement lawsuit between two huge players in the pharma space; the DEA takedown of over 200 illegal online pharmacies; and a breakthrough to print QR codes on live bacteria. Check out this week's episode!
In this episode, Imitation Nation talks to Travis Johnson from the International Anti-Counterfeiting Coalition, and he'll tell us exactly what he thinks Congress needs to do this year to help keep Americans safe.
In this episode we interview our friends at the American Apparel and Footwear Association: Jen Hanks, Senior Director, Brand Protection Conor O'Brien, Sustainability Product Specialist Sven and I talk with them about their new report on the hazardous chemicals they found in fake products, and the larger problem of counterfeits that pose a hazard to your health. Read the report, as well as their research on the entire digital ecology that makes money off counterfeit sold online, the digital devalue chain of counterfeits.
In the first guest episode of Imitation Nation, we welcome Stephan von Schilcher of NovaVision, a second-generation brand protection expert who grew up around holograms, covert inks, and counterfeit detection and made it his career. Stephan has worked as a global career spanning woven security labels, RFID deployment, holograms, tamper-evident tape, cargo seals, and online brand protection. From pallet theft in GPS dead zones to criminals cutting RFID antennas mid-transit, we explore how illicit actors exploit operational blind spots rather than just copying products. Stephan explains why laye
In this episode, we cover: The Korean Customs Service did a special inspection surge of counterfeit products leading up to America’s Black Friday and China’s Double 11 shopping days. Along with seizing over 600,000 counterfeit items, they did materials analysis on 250 of them, including jewelry that had heavy metals at over 5,000 times the limits for safety. They also found fake Labubu dolls with phthalates, which are carcinogens, at over 300 times the maximum level considered safe. Europol has published its new report titled Cheating the Toy World: Operation LUDUS (2020–2025), and the finding
This week, the world of counterfeits and illicit trade delivered some wild twists, from fake golf grips and forged marathon bibs to a major policy earthquake out of Europe. Here are our headlines: A Florida man pleaded guilty to trafficking counterfeit golf club grips that copied the Scotty Cameron brand, earning $170K from online sales between 2020–2024 and now facing up to 10 years in prison plus a $2M fine. An Inkster, Michigan, man is facing felony charges for allegedly using counterfeit $100 bills to pay for pizzas that he never returned to pick up. A crew from New Jersey allegedly produc
Senior Trade and Policy Analyst Piotr Stryszowski at the OECD published a piece this week in advance of the holidays called “The real cost of counterfeits is higher than you think,” about how the real cost of counterfeits isn’t just poor quality, but toxic materials and health consequences. OECD reports that counterfeit trade hit nearly $470 billion - that’s 2.3% of global trade. And it’s no longer just fake handbags. We’re talking auto parts, medicines, toys, even alcohol, products that can literally kill. The OECD says 65% of seizures continue to come from small parcels and mail. Now this da
Nightline aired a special investigative report “The Dark Shot” on the rise in fake Ozempic with Special Agent Nicole Johnson of Homeland Security Investigations. The reporters found fake Ozempic with no prescription needed available online. They also went to the Port of Cincinnati where they watched them open some Spanish labeled Ozempic that’s not safe for Americans and unable to determine if its counterfeit or not. There was also an interview with legendary investigative reporter Katherine Eban, who chased down counterfeit Ozempic to its source for an earlier article in Vanity Fair. San Fran
In this episode, we cover: Fedex announced to analysts that the tariff chaos will hit their finances to a total tune of a billion dollars. $300mm of that is due to costs associated with clearing goods through customs, which has suddenly become infinitely more complex. Despite that, revenue they said will grow 4-6% this year, indicating that a massive fall off in shipping is not anticipated. For context, Fedex’s stock has declined 19% this year, which is a sign that the market really punished them for concerns about tariff impacts. A troubling development out of Belgium. Customs officials there
Show notes - Imitation Nation #18 In this episode, we cover: The International Trademark Association published a quick 14 page handout on making the case for Return on Investment for your company’s anticounterfeiting program. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), through the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) last week announced the seizure of 4.7 million units of unauthorized e-cigarette products with an estimated retail value of $86.5 million – the largest-ever seizure of this kind. The seizures were part of a joint federal
In this episode, we cover: Interview with Amazon CCU Counterfeit Lamborghini Drinks Researchers develop new sensor to ‘detect counterfeit medicine’ 32,000 pounds of meat products recalled due to false USDA inspection marks. Counterfeit perfume on Walmart’s platform. Attorney General Nessel Announces Felony Charges Following FORCE Team Counterfeit Product Seizures If you have a story you want us to cover, let us know in the comments on our linkedin page.
On this week’s episode of Imitation Nation, we discuss one of the biggest trade policy shifts in years: the end of De Minimis, which officially expired at midnight through an Executive Order. This sudden end to a decades old policy is sending ripple effects through supply chains, as freight companies, freight forwarders and Post Offices across the globe are temporarily suspending or stopping shipments to the United States. We explore what this seismic change means for global commerce and we highlight the positive outcomes for brand protection, brand owners, trademark holders and how this will
In this episode of Imitation Nation, hosts Shabbir Imber Safdar and Sven Bergmann break down one of the biggest trade shifts of 2025: the imminent and likely permanent end of the de minimis. With more than 1.3 billion packages entering the U.S. last year under this exemption, it’s about to get a lot harder for counterfeit goods to hide in the pile. But what does this change mean for brands, shippers, consumers and law enforcement? We discuss what it is, why it’s ending, how it might make your online shopping a little more expensive and what this means to illicit trade and counterfeit. We are a
This White House has made big changes to De Minimis: For a look at the scale of packages, check out this CBS News piece. We cover the impact on counterfeit medicines, especially fake fentanyl pills, and techniques that companies might start to use to circumvent tariff uncertainty. The Trump trademark owners have complained about ecommerce platforms selling counterfeit versions of Trump-branded products and filed litigation. We also talk about a machine that makes counterfeit pills, the pill press, and a recent report the Partnership for Safe Medicines published about illegal pill presses. And
Operation Pangea 17 from Interpol was released. See this fancy graphic. Sven looked back at the previous 10 years of Operation Pangea and these results are record breaking by any measure. 50.4 million doses of illicit pharmaceuticals worth USD 65 million. The largest operation to date had been $11 million in illicit medicines. Arrest of 769 suspects and the dismantling of 123 criminal groups worldwide. In total, law enforcement agencies worldwide launched 1,728 investigations and issued 847 search warrants targeting criminal networks engaged in the illicit distribution of pharmaceutical produc
Tom’s hardware review ran an article this week about a chinese pc repair shop that received four of these, and upon closer examination, three of them were fake and unrepairable and unusable. They had modified older cards and in some cases attached other parts to give the appearance of the 4090 unit but the fake one was still inoperable which you would have discovered the moment you plugged it in. StockX has reported it rejected nearly $10 million worth of counterfeit sneakers last year as part of a comprehensive report outlining its efforts on verification, fraud prevention and anti-counterfei
PSM did a video story on the Heal The World civil suit from Gilead Sciences, accusing the pharmacy in NYC of trafficking in counterfeit HIV medicine. We discuss the massive four-continent bust that Europol coordinated of dark web sellers of counterfeit controlled substances as part of Operation RapTor. We also discuss CBP’s enormous seizure of counterfeit Apple chargers. We think it must have been an entire container’s worth of fake chargers, given descriptions of the quantity. There was a bust in Michigan of someone holding $100,000 of counterfeit currency. From the slightly low res photo, it
