HP counterfeit crackdown nets seizes millions of fake products

In the past year, HP's anti-counterfeiting and fraud team confiscated over 4.5m fraudulent print products, parts and components – including large numbers of ink and toner cartridges.

Glenn Jones, head of HP’s global anti-counterfeiting programme, said that the confiscations followed raids across in raids across Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA), Asia-Pacific and the Americas that took place between November 2019 and October 2020.

The seizures took place during a year where COVID-19 created challenges in the battle against fake print supplies around the world, HP said in a statement.

The fraud team had seized more than 1m illegitimate print supplies and delisted over 135,000 online offers in the EMEA alone. In one cause, it blocked the sale of 54,000 counterfeit toner and ink cartridges in Nigeria, the largest seizure made in in 2020.

HP and other print supply manufacturers warn that using fake products can result in shoddy printing results, damage printers, and invalidate warranties, but spotting counterfeits is becoming increasingly difficult.

The company uses security labels on its products which include holographic features as well as human-readable, linear and QR codes that can be scanned and validated using a smartphone or HP’s website.