A tricky scheme! What is a "Fraudulent Selling" conducted by used car dealers?
If the wheel is sold as a single unit, you might be able to notice the weirdness by looking at it carefully. However, scam groups try to deceive the consumers by using clever techniques.
Here is a case in which a letter delivered to BBS Japan resulted in the exposure of a scam.
A letter from a person who was actually deceived. The letter was filled with sadness and anger towards the scam groups.
Mr. A lives in Hokkaido and acquired his driver's license when he turned 18. He wanted to buy his own car, which he had always wished for, so he checked car sales information every coming day.The condition for purchase was that it must have BBS wheels, which he had always dreamed of.
Before long, he found a car that met his requirements at a used car dealer on the Internet so he bought it. When the car was delivered and shown to one of his friends, he pointed out that the wheels were fake, and it was only then that he realized the scam.
When Mr. A heard about it and contacted the dealer, the person from the shop said, "Our website only says 'new aluminum'. The cap looks like 'BBS' but it is just 'BBS style'. It's your fault for misunderstanding.”
The picture from the website that was enclosed with the letter. Since the logo cap appears in the picture, so it is natural for people to misidentify it as a BBS wheel.
The site doesn't say it's authentic.There is no such word as BBS. The police can't make a case for fraud with this.
In a letter to BBS Japan, Mr. A wrote about the full story of his suffering, frustration, and anger at the malicious dealer, and his desire to prevent similar cases from happening again.
Many cases of counterfeit products are filed in this folder. The number of cases alone shows the seriousness of the problem. He said that all the letters and reports he received have been filed.
After receiving the letter, Mr. Tanaka went to the Takaoka police station in Toyama Prefecture, where BBS headquarters is located, to explain the situation.Then he visited the dealer in question with the police.
"Unfortunately, we only found one vehicle in question at the site, but we thoroughly checked the past sales records. And found about 40 vehicles that we were able to expose.The excuse they gave us was that it had been mounted from the time they purchased it at the auction, and that there will not be a repeat of such incidences."
When selling a wheel by itself, it would be unnatural if the brand name is not mentioned. However, if the wheel is mounted on a car, it can be sold without describing the details of each individual wheel.
If you are looking for a used car, please be careful to avoid such scams.
Do some people actually buy counterfeit products knowing that they are fakes?
Most of these purchasers are deceived, but there are some people who are willing to buy fake products as long as they look close to the authentic ones.
“It is very sad, but some people prefer cheaper products if the product looks authentic at a glance, just like watches and bags.But the quality of such products is completely different from the authentic products. A fake watch or bag is unlikely to be fatal, but a fake car wheel can lead to a serious accident and even cause death.”
In the past, BBS Japan has bought counterfeit products and tested their performance.Validation was done on the following three things:
- Cornering bending fatigue test
A test in which a load is applied to a wheel and it is rotated to generate stress. This is to check if there is no problem when cornering. - Radial fatigue test
A test in which the wheel is rotated 500,000 times with a load applied. This is to check if there is no danger in normal driving. - 13° impact test
Drop a weight of 500 to 600 kg while keeping the tires at an inclination. This is to check if the wheel will not break by the impact.
“Some of the counterfeit products cracked or broke during the tests, and some were hazardous to normal driving.I don't deny that some of those products will pass all the tests, but you don’t know until they are tested.If it is an authentic product, its safety is guaranteed because it has undergone strict tests before being released for sale, but that is not the case with counterfeit products.If an accident happens, it is too late.”
In the past, there was a case where a poorly made product was purchased and the hub came off while driving, resulting in a catastrophe. *The picture is for illustrative purposes only.
No matter how many measures manufacturers take, it is impossible to eradicate counterfeit products if consumers are not fully aware of the problem.If any of you are thinking of upgrading wheels with inexpensive ones, please think about the dangers once again.
BBS Japan's countermeasures against counterfeit products
In addition to patrolling websites on the Internet and requesting the removal of counterfeit products, BBS Japan is taking a variety of other measures. First of all, there is a way to block counterfeit products from entering the country in the first place.
“We have asked the Japanese customs to contact us before passing any items carrying our BBS trademark, and we have also asked the customs of other countries to cooperate with us to prevent the export of counterfeit products to their countries.”
In addition, the company have attached their original anti-counterfeiting hologram stickers to products released in and after January 2018.The sticker is designed to break when you try to remove it, so it cannot be reattached to counterfeit products.
The round sticker is the one introduced in or after January 2018.The sticker on the right is JAWA's quality certification, but you need to be careful, as this is sometimes attached to counterfeit products!
“But the absence of the round sticker does not indicate that the product is counterfeit, as the round stickers are not attached on products before January 2018.We hope that you will regard it only as a guide when looking at recent products.
Since the introduction of the stickers, the number of counterfeit products has been reduced by half, he said.If you are thinking of purchasing BBS wheels in the future, you are encouraged to pay attention to this sticker.
How to avoid being deceived?
Finally, he shared with us some ways to avoid purchasing counterfeit products.
“The most obvious factor is price.Most counterfeit products are sold at 1/4 or 1/5 the price of authentic products.That is impossible when you think about distribution, so if you see something that is extremely cheap, you can assume that it is probably fake.
"In addition, there are other fake items as well, so you need to be careful," said Mr. Tanaka.
This is a fake logo cap.
The front part is adhesive and the backing paper can be peeled off.The stickers are also available on the Internet.
The authentic one (on the right) is made of acrylic.However, there are also fake products made of acrylics, so you should keep this in mind as just a guide.
These are logo caps made of acrylic, but they are all fakes.BBS characters are different from the authentic ones.
“Some logo caps have silver-colored plastic bases, and some have logo parts that are stickers, but they are all fake. Although authentic products are made of acryl, there are also fake products made of acrylic in the market these days, so you can't judge them by the material. However, for current models, you can find product images in catalogs and on our website, so I hope you'll check them out before your purchase.
Mr. Tanaka continues,
"Regrettably, no matter how many measures we take, we will never be able to eliminate counterfeit products.When we take actions, they immediately come up with new tactics, and it is a game of cat and mouse. Anyway, we will continue to collaborate with the police and the government to protect consumers, and we hope that everyone will refer to this article to protect themselves from suffering from counterfeit products."
If you are planning to buy a product from private sellers or at auction sites, we hope that you will carefully evaluate the product.
The most important thing is to be conscious of the possibility that a product may be counterfeit in order to prevent being deceived.