Keith: Why did counterfeiters move to high-risk areas like drugs and car parts? Is it just about money? Roei: Yes – it's about money.
Whether it's completely counterfeited or grey market supplies – like a failed item of quality that should not be destroyed but not so, these products are incredibly advantageous. Medicine and car parts are expensive, in high demand, and move in large quantities.
And when those products are displayed with official logos, barcodes, stickers and packaging, pharmacists and consumers assume they are legal. But many of them aren't. Keith: So, how do these counterfeit products become a reliable supply chain? Are companies not aware or just wanting the best?
Roei: The real challenge is that supply chains are globally distributed and digitally managed. Decades ago, pharmacy buyers may have personally known the drug representative or received the hand cargo.
Today, products, including pharmaceuticals, brake pads, engine parts, and even military systems, are assembled in multiple regions and pass through many hands. At any point in that chain, someone can be rewarded for inserting a forgery.
And many intermediaries often makers of first, second and third tiers suppliers – they don't know where the parts actually come from. You can replace something just before you reach the OEM or just before you reach it. Previously, it was easy to oversee the flow of products.
Think of Brink's tracks – there were clear checkpoints, people verifying the content at every step. Currently, global supply chains are so complex that it is nearly impossible to maintain that level of scrutiny.
