Counterfeit protection is consumer protection
Every consumer can become a victim of product piracy - that's according to a new campaign recently started by 3S Simons Security Systems GmbH in various social networks such as Facebook, Youtube and MyVideo. Everyday situations quickly and effectively demonstrate the dangers caused by counterfeiters - not only when buying bargains on holiday, but also when doing your daily shopping at the supermarket, specialist shop or at the chemist.
No matter whether you're buying baby food, children's toys, medicines, cosmetics, textiles, pet food or spare parts for cars - counterfeit products are getting onto the market again and again and are threatening the health of consumers.
Which means: Even if you avoid dubious offers and only make your purchases in specialist shops, you still cannot be one hundred percent sure that you are buying original goods. Only when consumers themselves can identify the authenticity of a product without a doubt can seamless counterfeit protection be guaranteed from the industry via the market to the consumer. To watch the short films about 3S' new info campaign, please visit www.secutag.com and go to the "SECUTAG in the media" / "Media library" section. Click on "Survey 1-3" and "Consumer Spots" in the drop down list. 3S Simons Security Systems GmbH is an internationally renowned manufacturer of labelling systems for legally binding counterfeit protection. On the basis of the world's smallest micro colour codes SECUTAG, 3S has developed several industry solutions against product piracy.
Product piracy: The dark figure is high
Despite the successful work carried out by German customs, there is always a risk that counterfeits can get onto the market. In 2013, border controls could prevent over 3.9 million counterfeit products valued at 134 million euros from entering the country. However, experts assume that the dark figure of unrecognised infringements on product and trademark laws is very much higher. And from the point of view of the Federal Criminal Police Office, product piracy has long been an important field of activity for organised crime. What does this mean for the consumer? Even if you avoid dubious offers and only make your purchases in specialist shops, you still cannot be one hundred percent sure that you are buying original goods.
Product counterfeits are getting more and more perfect
The new information campaign by 3S refers particularly to the health risks of product piracy, particularly when it concerns sensitive products such as baby food, children's toys, medicines, cosmetics, textiles or spare parts for cars. This is because the use of counterfeit goods can trigger allergies, cause illnesses or can even end in death - when the car repair shop uses counterfeit brake pads made from substandard material to be mounted on a vehicle. This danger is absolutely founded, because nowadays counterfeits are so perfectly produced that they are not even automatically recognised by trained experts in specialist shops. As long as manufacturers and trade do not use a continuous counterfeit protection system with which every consumer can check the authenticity of a product on site, organised crime will always be able to get counterfeits into specialist shops, specialist markets and even into chemists using sophisticated production and logistics chains.
Seamless protection from suppliers, all the way to retailers and consumers
The product labelling system SECUTAG by 3S provides effective protection against counterfeiting. This system consists of micro colour codes that are invisible to the naked eye. They can be applied onto almost any surface. The only device needed for checking the product's authenticity is a standard pen microscope with 100x magnification. It allows users to identify counterfeit products quickly and reliably. The colour code system has been counterfeit-proof for more than 15 years and is accepted as evidence by international courts.