U.S. Customs and Border Protection said it seized more than 3,000 fake electric guitars in southern California. They said the knockoffs were destined for the e-commerce market, just in time for holiday gift shopping.
CBP said if the guitars were real, they would be worth about $18 million. Most of the fakes look like Gibson brand guitars, but some were other well-known companies such as Fender.
“These fraudulent guitars may look and feel legitimate for unsuspecting consumers buying them from third party online sources, street markets, unauthorized retailers, and person-to-person transactions,” Cheryl M. Davies, CBP Director of Field Operations in Los Angeles, said in a press release. “As we approach the busy holiday shopping season, consumers should pay attention on where they are buying these goods and how much they are paying, and if is too good to be true it probably is.”
Federal authorities would not release any details about suspects in the investigation or where the counterfeit guitars came from.
“We are grateful for the hard work that our U.S. CBP officers, (Homeland Security Investigations)HSI special agents, and the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department investigators are doing to stop counterfeiting,” Cesar Gueikian, CEO of Gibson, said. “Our partnership is designed to help every agency work together to protect consumers and our fans from being misled into counterfeits.”
