Wednesday, July 2, 2003
Bogus Ink Stink: Counterfeit Ink Causes Damage
Posted by Jason Dunn in "OFF-TOPIC" @ 10:07 PM
"In early February, Yasar Sattar shook hands with undercover detective Rod Jones and a private investigator for Epson, who were posing as potential ink buyers. All three men were inside a Brampton, Ontario, doughnut shop, and Sattar had just agreed to sell $30,000 (U.S.) worth of Epson and Hewlett-Packard ink jet and toner cartridges for a fraction of the normal price. Jones and the Epson sleuth, who had pegged the cartridges as counterfeit after a lengthy joint investigation, hopped into an SUV and followed Sattar to a nondescript warehouse a mile away. There, Sattar swung open a metal door to reveal pallets of what looked like legitimate ink cartridges, packaged for sale.
"These fakes looked so real, I couldn't believe my eyes," recalls Jones, a member of the Brampton-based Peel Regional Police's intelligence unit. Sattar handed Jones the invoice for the cartridges, assuring him that the ink was genuine. Backup officers then barged in and arrested Sattar, ending one of a growing number of worldwide sting operations against counterfeit-ink rings."
This is a very interesting article - I've purchased 3rd party inks in the past, but this article talks about true counterfeit cartridges sold by legitimate businesses because they didn't know any better. A must read! I love this true-life crime stuff... :wink: