Brand Detectives from Frankfurt am Main Investigate for Companies and Buyers in Cases of Product Counterfeiting

Luxury? Yes, But Cheap Please!

Expensive, showy possessions, lifestyles, accessories and status symbols have been valued since the dawn of civilisation: think of the extravagant Roman feasts in ornamented palaces or the treasure-filled pyramids and pharaonic tombs of ancient Egypt. Today the secular side of this status is represented by everyday luxury such as designer clothing, high-end watches and so on, but also by luxurious homes, expensive cars and costly short breaks in the south. All of these form part of the modern consumer who wishes to demonstrate that ownership has always been and remains an enviable life goal. The problem with this striving for (luxury) possessions are the high acquisition costs: examples include a price of €5,000 for a designer handbag from a famous Paris-based fashion house or sports cars costing as much as a family home, which put such luxury beyond the reach of many.

 

Clever fraudsters and counterfeiters have therefore for decades exploited this problem in the luxury and branded-goods sectors by offering cheaply manufactured but sometimes deceptively convincing knock-offs of popular brand products at rock-bottom prices, mostly produced in East and Southeast Asia. Whether it is a Chanel bag, a gold Rolex or an Omega wristwatch, luxury car accessories, beauty products of well-known cosmetic manufacturers, football shirts from the Premier League, the Bundesliga, the Primera División or other top leagues, fashionable Nike trainers and much more — counterfeiters cater to less well-off consumers who would like to own the products shown in the media but cannot afford them at official prices and therefore accept imitations. The reasons why police, customs and corporate investigators such as those at Kurtz Investigations Frankfurt pursue the manufacturers of such fakes are manifold and will be touched on in the following text.

Frankfurt am Main Is THE Hub for Counterfeit Goods – Kurtz Detective Agency Frankfurt Investigates

Our brand detectives from Frankfurt/Main encounter the boldest of fakes, which gullible buyers are sometimes sold for huge sums despite having an actual market value of only a few euros; purchasers nevertheless perceive them as bargains for, say, “genuine” Louboutin high heels. The often bitter and disappointing realisation about an item’s true value and authenticity after a brand verification carried out by the specialists of Kurtz Detective Agency Frankfurt a. M. is therefore common. In the Hessian financial metropolis, however, authenticity checks by our corporate investigators at Kurtz Investigations Frankfurt/Main are particularly frequent and important:

 

“Mainhattan” is annually listed in the Mercer study as the second most expensive city in Germany (behind Munich) and among the 100 most expensive cities in the world; anyone living here who does not wish to be outshone by the “high society” must earn well and project an expensive lifestyle outwardly in order to belong. Status symbols are thus taken for granted in the German stock-market city. With Germany’s largest airport (and, after London Heathrow and Paris Charles-de-Gaulle, the third largest in Europe), smugglers and counterfeiters have a huge opportunity to transport fakes into Germany and to import counterfeit goods unobtrusively among the 61 million air passengers recorded in 2015 alone. Kurtz Detective Agency Frankfurt/Main works closely with customs investigators and the police where necessary (example), in order to uncover fraudsters on arrival, expose counterfeit branded goods and thus save the state — and consumers — significant costs, but above all to support the contracting, damaged brand company in its fight against ever bolder counterfeits and the losses associated with them. In 2013 alone, authorities secured 3.9 million counterfeit items with an estimated value of €134 million.

Private Detectives from Frankfurt am Main Help Verify Your Goods — Uncertainties Removed

What many do not know is that not only the counterfeiters and sellers of fake goods can be prosecuted; the buyer may also be criminally liable, because by purchasing the item — for example while on holiday in Turkey or Tunisia — and subsequently importing it into Germany they support the idea-theft of the brand pirates. Individual items may be tolerated by customs to a limited extent, but once there is suspicion of commercial trade in counterfeit goods, no leniency is shown. If you are unsure whether you have bought a genuine branded product or merely a cheaply produced — albeit perhaps expensively paid for — imitation, the product-piracy specialists at Kurtz Investigations Frankfurt/Main will at any time help you examine the authenticity of your product(s) and, where relevant, hold the seller to account: +49 69 1201 8431. Not infrequently, with the help of our detectives the goods can be returned, the purchase price recovered and the responsible vendor prosecuted.

 

Often it is only small-time dealers who are caught, while the actual manufacturers and counterfeiters remain unknown and at large, thereby continuing to damage worldwide-famous brands and deprive them of income. To uncover the masterminds and structures behind organised product piracy, concerted and long-term investigations are necessary, for which a suitable budget to cover detective fees must be made available.

Intellectual Property — A Worthy Asset to Protect

Not least because of the upcoming World Intellectual Property Day on 26 April, one should recall the damage caused even by the purchase of a few counterfeit holiday souvenirs: although the dark figure of such purchases is almost certainly far higher, experts estimate that the annual damage in the machinery and plant engineering sector alone amounts to €8 billion; moreover, the Handelsblatt speaks of 77 million jobs in Europe potentially at risk in industries affected by counterfeiting. For these reasons the police and customs as well as the detectives and brand specialists of Kurtz Investigations Frankfurt a. M. urge citizens to involve them in cases of dubious alleged brand purchases so that the authenticity of goods can be checked and perpetrators brought to justice. Also to be considered is the danger to human life posed by fake vehicle parts or potentially poisonous medicines and cosmetics, which should give anyone thinking of buying a counterfeit pause for thought.

 

According to the Handelsblatt, 36 per cent of adults and even around 60 per cent of young people are prepared to buy counterfeit goods in order to save money compared with the retail price of the original producers. Of course, not all purchases of counterfeit products are made knowingly, which is why education must be provided on all sides and each individual bears responsibility both to the economy and to themselves. By involving customs or our brand detectives in Frankfurt am Main, definitive certainty can be obtained and a fair market ensured. If you harbour doubts about the authenticity of your products, contact our corporate investigators for free advice on deployment and options: kontakt@kurtz-detektei-frankfurt.de. Kurtz Detective Agency Frankfurt/Main advocates fully for your interests.

Author: Maya Grünschloß, PhD

 

Kurtz Detective Agency Frankfurt

c/o AT Büro Center

Mainzer Landstraße 341

60326 Frankfurt am Main, Germany

Tel.: +49 69 1201 8431

E-Mail: kontakt@kurtz-detektei-frankfurt.de

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