Companies invest many years of time and a substantial financial investment to build their brands. Bringing a product to market requires years of research and development, and costs to design, merchandise and market. The payoff comes only after you have established your unique position and reputation with the public.

Yet estimates are that companies lose millions in sales each year as counterfeit products diminish the value of their brand for consumers. Counterfeits are often priced inexpensively due to their production by cheap, overseas labor and are of poor quality. Some customers may not be aware that the discounted, poorly made products they are buying are not coming from your company, which can take a disastrous toll on your reputation.

Stumar Investigations hits the streets, locating the vendors and stores selling counterfeit goods as well as distributors and manufacturers to help put an end to their sale and to protect your company’s reputation. For example, when the Philadelphia Phillies won the 2008 World Series and returned to the championship in 2009, Major League Baseball hired Stumar to scour the Philadelphia region to uncover counterfeit merchandise. Stumar was able to alert police, who shut down the illegal operations, helping to ensure that retailers had the opportunity to sell their legitimate merchandise.

In another recent case, Stumar notified the Philadelphia Police Major Crimes Unit after a two month investigation into four legitimate-looking stores in central Philadelphia that were essentially operating as “counterfeit boutiques.” Authorities confiscated close to $500,000 in counterfeit merchandise from high-end designers. Arrests were made and one suspect was deported to China for a long list of infractions.