As technology advances with speed and the Indian economy is liberalized, a market that is ideal for those that want to promote brands, which are nurtured and cultivated over a longer period of time. Counterfeiting has a negative effect in such a market. Both those that buy counterfeit products and those that make them are punished by the law, sometimes with legal actions and other times with fines. Money laundering is often associated with counterfeiting.

A counterfeit is a fake created so it can represent deceptively another brand or product, making people think that they are the same. Besides forging documents or currencies, this term can describe pharmaceuticals, software, clothing, watches and even motorcycles and cars.

1925 Bank Note Crisis of Portugal
In 1925, Water low and Sons made notes similar to those created by Banco de Portugal, but having an identical series on them. The total value of those notes represented 0.88% of the Portugal’s GDP.

1926 Hungary Counterfeit Scandal
1000 Franch bills were made in Hungary during those times and a few people got caught while trying to buy bills worth 10 million francs. 3 years later, the counterfeiting industry had collapsed. The reasons why Hungary did that was as a revenge for the losses in territory that they suffered as a consequence of WW I. They also wanted to promote their military role by using that fake currency.

World War II German Counterfeit Bills
The Nazis tried using counterfeit bills during the second World War, in the Bernhard Operation. The operation was done with the help of Jewish artist. They made both American dollars and British pounds and the quality was so good that it was extremely hard to tell them apart from real bills. Since they didn’t manage to get their plans to a conclusion, they threw away the bills in a lake.

Punishment

Under federal law, counterfeiting is a class C felony, punishable by up to twelve years in prison or a fine of as much as $250,000, or both. State laws also establish penalties for counterfeiting.