Seen and heard: counterfeiting news in brief

Fake AMD processors, Coach sues Citi Trend, burning fakes for electricity and an Abu Dhabi accessories clampdown.

Fake AMD Ryzen products 'sold on Amazon', say purchasers

Two purchasers of AMD's new Ryzen central processing unit from Amazon have said they have fallen victim to a counterfeiting scam, according to a report on PCGamer.com. Two Reddit users – sh00ter999 and Yae-Ko – say that instead of the Ryzen 7 1700 processor they ordered, they received instead an Intel Celeron processor disguised to resemble the AMD product. Ryzen processers have developed a following among gamers and are credited with boosting AMD's share of the market in its ongoing head-to-head with Intel. Amazon reportedly acted swiftly to refund the purchasers, but the incident is another dose of bad press for the retail platform regarding its vulnerability to counterfeits.

Coach sues retailer Citi Trends for trademark infringement

Fashion brand Coach has filed a lawsuit against Citi Trends Inc – a Nasdaq-listed fashion apparel, shoes, accessories and home décor retailer with more than 530 stores in 31 states – alleging that it old counterfeit Coach handbags and wallets, according to a notice in the Northern California Record. The lawsuit also names Kelly Martin, thought to be a fashion buyer for Citi Trends. The Record says Coach is claiming that two of the defendants' shipments were seized by Customs & Border Protection (CBP) in Long Beach and contained counterfeit goods.

Illegal tobacco, alcohol put to electricity generation

Thousands of illicit cigarettes and counterfeit alcohol confiscated in Lincolnshire, UK, over the past year will be taken to a specialist recycling centre in the county and turned into electricity, reports Trading Standards. A total of 152,360 counterfeit cigarettes and 25kg of hand rolling tobacco will be broken down and made into electricity, while tonnes of illegal alcohol will be mixed with foodstuffs and enzymes to create gas that will be burned to create electricity. "It's vital that these products can no longer be sold to unsuspecting members of the public, and through taking them to be recycled at least there is a positive outcome," said Emma Milligan, principal trading standards officer at Lincolnshire County Council.

Abu Dhabi raids net fake clothing goods

The Department of Economic Development (DED) in Abu Dhabi has seized 6,230 fake and counterfeit shoes, bags and leather goods during a series of raids, says ArabianBusiness.com. The confiscations included large quantities of shoes and bags that had been labelled as major brands and were being sold in an apartment in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) capital that had been converted into a storefront for the bootleg operation.