Prevention
- Security Assessment
- Red Teaming
- Compliance Audit
- Pre-IR Assessment
- Compromise Assessment
- Cyber Education
- GIB Crypto
Digital Risk Protection against counterfeiting and illegal online sales
Group-IB Digital Risk Protection blocks offers of counterfeit products on the Internet, prevents their distribution and monitors compliance with your partner policy.
Worldwide e-commerce in numbers
$4.8 trillionretail e-commerce worldwide
$4.2 trillionprojected global counterfeit market volume by 2022
Up to 40%share of counterfeit in some product groups
Threats to online sales
Distribution of counterfeit products
Counterfeit products pose a risk of “brand dilution”, which results in brands losing their premium status and their market niche. Ultimately, customers start to lose interest in the brand. Low-quality counterfeits can also harm the buyer’s health, which damages the brand’s reputation.
Group-IB Digital Risk Protection automatically detects offers of counterfeit products under your brand name on all popular resources and enables a significant reduction in illegal online sales.
Non-compliance with partner policy
It is difficult to verify compliance with all partner requirements if you have a lot of distributors and sellers. Unethical partners may violate the requirements of the brand book, distribute goods through unofficial channels or break cooperation agreements.
Group-IB Digital Risk Protection will identify online distribution channels, unofficial stores and dishonest sellers.
Industries exposed to online counterfeiting
Fashion retail
Electronics
Perfume and cosmetics
Pharmaceuticals
FMCG
Baby products
Alcohol
Automotive
How we protect brands against online counterfeiting
01
Monitoring
The Digital Risk Protection system automatically monitors offers of your brand's products on millions of websites around the world 24/7.
02
Detection of online counterfeiting
The system uses machine learning technology and the list of official partners to separate legitimate offers and identify ads containing violations. Our proprietary technology for analyzing the connections between websites makes it possible to identify all offers from the same seller at once.
03
Elimination of violations
Elimination of violations on many websites is partially automated. In addition, we are ready to conduct a comprehensive investigation, identify criminals and provide full legal support.
Comprehensive measures to combat counterfeiting
In collaboration with the partners, we can reveal the entire chain of counterfeit distribution and bring the perpetrators to justice.
Point of sale analysis
- Test purchases with safe storage
- Expert analysis of purchased samples
- Analytical research
- Monitoring of retail chains and stores to detect illegal goods at any level (district, city, region, federal district)
- Drafting and delivering C&D letters to points of sale and companies distributing illegal goods
Comprehensive investigations
- Detecting distribution channels for illegal goods: production - storage – stores
- Conducting checks on legal entities and individuals to detect involvement in sales of illegal goods
- Close cooperation with law enforcement agencies to exchange information and prepare action plans to prevent sales of illegal goods
- Technical and operational measures implemented in close cooperation with the police
Cases of fight against online counterfeiting
Digital Risk Protection for Bosco
Issue
The Bosco Group, a major Russian distributor of luxury brands and its own brand of sportswear faced large-scale sales of counterfeit products misusing Bosco brand image on hundreds of online platforms.
Challenge
The online market had been flooded with fake goods, which could have diminished the premium brand value of Bosco.
Our solution
CERT-GIB performed a series of actions that helped promptly block all online platforms that distributed counterfeit goods.
Contact us to get more information about threats targeting your project
Fashion retail
As markets are flooded with counterfeit apparel, footwear and accessories, consumers are losing confidence in manufacturers. Brands are diluted and lose their premium status and their niche in the market. Low-quality fakes can pose a serious danger to customers’ health and, consequently, to brand reputation.
1st place
is taken by apparel for the number of seizures worldwide
35%
of footwear and apparel on the Russian market are counterfeit
10 000+
requests related to purchases of replica watches from top brands are registered in the Yandex search engine every month
40 million
counterfeit watches are produced every year around the world
Electronics
Counterfeit electronic products not only affect producers of genuine items, but also expose consumers to health and safety dangers. Legitimate companies that operate in this highly competitive industry are especially vulnerable to any reputational risks.
40+ million
counterfeit devices were seized in Russia in Q1 2016
10%
of counterfeit goods seized worldwide are electronic devices
20%
of smartphones and 25% of video game consoles worldwide are counterfeit
$143 billion
is the volume of the global market for counterfeit devices
Perfume and cosmetics
Official manufacturers face strong competition from counterfeit perfumes and cosmetics. Brands not only lose part of their revenue but also face reputational risks: low-quality ingredients used in fake products can seriously damage customers’ health.
20%
is the share of illegal products on the Russian market for perfume and cosmetics
80%
is the average price difference between fake perfumes and original products sold online
535 000
views were gained by a video posted by a beauty blogger describing the consequences of using fake eyeshadow of a well-known brand
$117 million
was a worth of a large batch of counterfeit cosmetics of well-known brands seized in China
Pharmaceuticals
Counterfeit medication bought online puts people's health at risk, forcing customers to entirely stop buying legitimate drugs of the brand.
10%
of the global medicine supply is counterfeit
9 out of 10
Russian online pharmacies sell counterfeit medications
$167,000
the turnover on the Russian market for counterfeit medications
$200 000
was recovered by the holders of rights over contour correction products from a group of fraudsters in 2016
FMCG
In 2016, global online sales of fast-moving consumer goods increased by 26%. At the same time, there has been an increase in sales of counterfeit detergents, food products, personal care products, cigarettes and other fast-moving consumer goods, which poses danger to customers’ health. As a result, official manufacturers are discredited, which is especially damaging amid strong competition on the market.
$42 million
is the volume of the Russian counterfeit market
$130 billion
will be reached by global online FMCG sales by 2025, according to projections
10%
is the share of counterfeit food products in Russia
4%
is the market share of counterfeit tobacco products
Baby products
As a result of sales of counterfeit baby products, official manufacturers suffer not only financial losses but also reputational damage. Counterfeit toys pose a serious danger to children’s health, while negative feedback from parents is damaging to the brand.
143 lawsuits
against Russian companies were filed by the holder of exclusive rights over the Peppa Pig trademark in 2016
43%
of the Russian toy market are counterfeit toys
$82 000
was recovered by a UK company that brought a court action against a wholesale distributor in Novosibirsk for illegal use of the Talking Tom and Friends trademark
3 360
Porsche Cabriolet toy cars imported from China were destroyed in Novosibirsk at the request of the rights holder
Alcohol
Despite a ban on online sales of alcohol in Russia, new online stores selling beverages of popular brands wholesale and retail appear regularly. Customers are attracted by low prices, but these stores often sell counterfeit goods posing a major risk to the life and health of consumers.
11 tons
of counterfeit alcohol was to be sold by backstreet manufacturers in a Russian region under well-known brand names in the run-up to the New Year celebrations
3 liters
of counterfeit alcohol per capita are consumed in Russia every year
40%
is the share of counterfeits on the market for spirits and liqueurs
€230 million
was a worth of counterfeit alcohol and food products that were seized by Interpol and Europol during a joint operation in 2017
Automotive
Counterfeit auto parts not only cause direct losses to official dealers, but are also potentially dangerous for the life and health of customers.
$5 billion
is the market volume of counterfeit spare parts in Russia
40%
of auto parts sold in Russia are counterfeit
30-50%
is the price difference between counterfeit and original product
95%
of genuine auto parts are subject to counterfeiting