Steer clear of counterfeit goods
Precious few among us can afford to buy a Gucci bag. Or a Rolex watch.
But many of us still wear and carry them well, a convincing facsimile either knowing they're fakes or thinking that we got the deal of the century on a status symbol.
Did your teenager really spend $300 on that pair of wraparound shades from Dolce & Gabbana? Is that purse hanging from your shoulder a real $2,500 Prada?
Counterfeit knockoffs are everywhere.
St. Charles police say they confiscated more than 1,100 pieces of counterfeit Chicago sports jerseys and other merchandise Sunday morning from a Kane County Flea Market vendor. They busted Giovanni Tlatempa, 31, of Elgin, on a tip from a private eye hired by the NFL to protect its copyright.
If found guilty, Tlatempa could face seven years in prison.
We're not here to be preachy about the practice of buying a fake when you don't have the cash for the real thing. But you should know that for every time you may intentionally buy something not made by the name on the label, you may unwittingly be buying a fake that could imperil your life.
Counterfeiters don't just sell luxury goods and pirated movies. They produce and sell pharmaceuticals, baby food, car parts, credit cards and cosmetics, among other items.
According to Interpol, which investigates counterfeiting worldwide, knock-off medicines can range from useless to toxic and are tough to differentiate from the real thing.
Intellectual property crime that's what this is is a problem all over the world.
Interpol pegs global trade in counterfeit goods at about $450 billion. The FBI estimates losses to counterfeiting to United States businesses at as much as $250 billion a year.
Interpol says the link between organized crime groups and counterfeit goods is well established. And intellectual property crime is becoming the preferred method of funding for a number of terrorist groups.
And do you really want to be feeding that beast?
It all adds up. When you buy a $10 Urlacher jersey from an disreputable hawker, the NFL loses out on the sale of its licensed apparel. The result? The NFL is going to make its money in another way. And that could affect you.
Buy drugs online? That may not be a Pfizer product you're purchasing and, as such, may not be backed by years of research and testing.
Are those brakes made by Toyota or somebody else who doesn't stand by his product?
That fake Gucci purse will probably disappoint you in the short run, but it probably won't kill you. But the more open you are to buying counterfeit goods, the more trouble you invite.