HP India today announced the results of its Anti-Counterfeiting and Fraud (ACF) Program, that is aimed at creating awareness on the scale and severity of the fraudulent printing supplies market in India.
In the past year, the HP Anti-Counterfeit and Fraud (ACF) team has been busy. Charged with protecting customers from buying low-quality or fraudulent HP products, the HP ACF team has confiscated more than 3.5 million fraudulent print products, parts and components – including large numbers of ink and toner cartridges – across Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA), Asia-Pacific (APAC) and the Americas.[1]
Original HP products are designed to meet HP’s strict quality, reliability and sustainability standards, based on a long history of innovation, research and testing. Counterfeit products are not only illegal but can cause a multitude of problems that can result in performance and reliability issues. Should an HP printer break because of a counterfeit ink or toner cartridge, the damage to the printer will not be covered by HP’s limited warranty.
“Counterfeiters are increasingly turning to the online space to sell their fraudulent wares” said Guillaume Gerardin, global head and general manager of print supplies at HP. “As a result, it’s becoming more difficult for customers to identify counterfeit cartridges at the point of purchase. This is why it’s so important that HP continues to work with online marketplaces to help spot and remove listings for counterfeit products, as well as track down the source of these goods.”
HP takes counterfeiting seriously
Between November 2020 and October 2021, HP confiscated 646,000 counterfeit print products across EMEA, an additional 400,000 across the Americas, and a further 2.5 million across the APAC region.
As a part of the ACF program, HP India between July 2020 and Sept 2021, seized 498K counterfeit products worth over INR 40 Crore (USD 5.24 million).
Bad actors have already made a marked shift to online trading of counterfeit supplies. This trend has been further exacerbated by COVID-19, with HP increasing its online de-listings by 19% year-over-year. HP works with online marketplaces and other online third-party organisations to put more stringent procedures in place on sites to identify infringing products or sellers.
COVID-19 continued to impact HP’s ability to collaborate closely with law enforcement, but identification measures moved online where possible with virtual Customer Delivery Inspections (CDIs) and Channel Partner Protection Audits (CPPAs). 1,191 CPPAs were conducted in FY21[2], an increase of 11% on FY20. Virtual inspections and audits supported the ACF team in identifying and delisting over 224,000 illegitimate HP online offers globally.
“When vendors, partners, distributors and local law enforcement work closely together, we can reduce the instances of fake print products coming to market, said Glenn Jones, global head of HP’s anti-counterfeiting program. “As pandemic restrictions are lifted and employees resume going into office, IT decision makers must remain vigilant and wary of cheap office products flooding the market that could be counterfeits. The Combating Counterfeit Products Act and Customer Delivery Inspections can help identify and ensure fakes cartridges and components never reach the end user.”
HP also invests in training and educating on anti-counterfeiting matters through online events, reaching millions of partners, stakeholders, and customers to date.
