Shock Report Finds 18% of People Unwittingly Bought Fake Gear in 2013

It seems that counterfeit gear it’s just limited to the world of fashion and watches, a recent study by Canon has found that it’s also rife in the world of consumer electronics. According to the report, it’s estimated that some 18% of consumers have purchased counterfeit goods without knowing it.

 

Surveying 1,069 consumers who purchased electronics in 2013, Canon found out that 30% of them bought counterfeited goods, with Canon specifically noting the following statistics in their accompanying press release:

• In 2013, 12 percent of the U.S. consumers surveyed knowingly bought fake consumer electronics, while 18 percent bought them unknowingly.


• 40 percent of U.S. consumers surveyed were unaware that counterfeit consumer electronics may harm them.


• 45 percent believed that counterfeit consumer electronics do the job just as well as genuine consumer electronics.


• 97 percent wanted more information so they can identify counterfeits.


• Millennials surveyed were five times more likely than the Baby Boomers surveyed to purchase fake goods.


• While the majority of millennials (72 percent) surveyed consider themselves very knowledgeable in identifying a counterfeit consumer electronics product, about one in four continues to unknowingly buy one.

Canon hasn’t shared the full report yet, so it’s not clear how they specifically came up with that 18%. PopPhoto speculates that maybe Canon took into account the number of overall counterfeit sales and subtracted the number of consumers who knowingly purchased this third-party gear. However, that is yet to be confirmed. The best advice is to always buy from reputable dealers, using a guaranteed credit card may also help limit the risk.

(via PopPhoto)

Shock Report Finds 18% of People Unwittingly Bought Fake Gear in 2013