Investigating the counterfeit nightmare

Abstract

In 1998 the FBI predicted that counterfeiting would become “the crime of the 21st century”. Four years on and that prophecy is being dramatically vindicated. The International Chamber of Commerce Counterfeiting Intelligence Bureau estimates that the overall cost of counterfeiting is between 5 and 7 percent of world trade. In hard figures that represents over $350 billion in lost revenues for legitimate companies every year.