ABM's crime and investigation blog » ABM’s Crime and Investigation Blog – Crimestoppers experiences 700% increase in calls following London riots

Crimestoppers experiences 700% increase in calls following London riots

Edward Mills — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 09:27:34 +0000

Following the civil disturbances in London during August, Crimestoppers received over 2,500 actionable calls after CCTV images were released of various offenders. In conversation with the Head of Operations at Crimestoppers, I was pleased to hear that abmpegasus Information In Confidence played an important part in Crimestoppers’ activity during that period. The abmpegasus system was implemented at Crimestoppers to provide a more reliable and resilient system for securely managing confidential information. The riots could not have been predicted then, but the decision to upgrade their systems certainly paid off – despite a 700% increase in calls and 40% increase in users of the abmpegasus system, it continued to provide a reliable service, ensuring the security and confidentiality of information provided by members of the public.

Intellectual Property Crime Report 2010-2011

Edward Mills — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 11:16:49 +0000

The Intellectual Property Office has published its annual IP Crime report, showing that the sale and distribution of counterfeit and pirated goods over the internet has increased over the last year. It cites a number of major counterfeiting cases including an £11m confiscation order secured by Enfield Trading Standards in May 2010 and the jailing of six men who used high-tech equipment to produce 24 fake bottles of vodka a minute.

The report highlights that counterfeiting is a continuing problem for brands in a wide variety of industries and that much more needs to be done to prevent the production, import and sale of counterfeit goods.

Fake Apple Stores in China

Edward Mills — Fri, 22 Jul 2011 10:42:13 +0000

A blogger in China has photographed a number of allegedly fake Apple stores in Kunming city, China. This shows the lengths that people will go to in order to make money out of illicit products. It also supports those that suggest the problem of counterfeiting is indemic in Chinese society. Go to BirdAbroad to see the photos and all the comments.

Louis Vuitton and Burberry awarded $2.5m (CAD) for copyright infringement

Edward Mills — Mon, 11 Jul 2011 14:37:55 +0000

Louis Vuitton and Burberry, the two well known luxury fashion brands, have been awarded a total of CAD $2.5m in the Federal Court of Canada following their successful action against three companies that had been manufacturing and selling counterfeit designer handbags in Canada.

Valerie Sonnier, Global Intellectual Property Director for Louis Vuitton said, “This is a landmark award and decisive victory for Louis Vuitton. We are pleased that the Federal Court in Canada recognizes the importance of protecting intellectual property, and awarding high compensatory damages as well as full punitive and exemplary damages as a strong punishment and an equally strong deterrent against counterfeiting and infringing activity. This decision also serves to highlight the need to make trade-mark counterfeiting a crime in Canada and grant Customs in Canada much needed ex officio authority to seize counterfeit goods at the border. We hope this decision will send a message to counterfeiters the world over that Louis Vuitton will aggressively implement its zero tolerance policy against counterfeiting.”

You can read the full press release at BusinessWire

Anti-counterfeit tool causes $1 million damage

Edward Mills — Mon, 11 Jul 2011 13:25:55 +0000

In a twist of irony, a machine designed to identify counterfeit money has allegedly caused a fire in a Bank of America branch that caused $1 million (USD) of damage. According to ABC News, the bank is suing the faulty machine’s manufacturer…

Memorial vigil for Rachel Hoffman

Edward Mills — Fri, 06 May 2011 10:45:59 +0000

Marking three years since the death of her daughter, Margie Weiss will be leading a memorial vigil in Tallahassee today to commemorate the life of Rachel Hoffman. The 23-year-old university graduate was murdered on 7th May, 2008 following a botched drug operation in which she was acting as a confidential informant. Since then, new legislation has been introduced in Florida to improve the management of confidential informants. Read more about Rachel’s Law.

UK Bribery Act Guidance Published

Edward Mills — Tue, 05 Apr 2011 08:33:36 +0000

Since my earlier post on the UK Bribery Act 2010, the Ministry of Justice has published the document, “Bribery Act 2010: Guidance about commercial organisations preventing bribery“. It is intended to help commercial organisations implement procedures to protect them against bribery.

37,000 litres of illicit fuel seized by Customs

Edward Mills — Mon, 21 Mar 2011 16:30:57 +0000

HM Revenue and Customs have busted an industrial scale fuel laundering plant in Northern Ireland. Customs officials and the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) seized six large fuel storage tanks, 37,000 litres of illicit fuel and 1,000 litres, as well as associated equipment and 21,000 of toxic waste. It is estimated that the laundering plant could have cost £20 million in lost tax revenue per year. By taking red diesel for agricultural use and chemically removing the government marker, the perpetrators can sell the laundered fuel at a lower price, avoiding the petrol tax.

Counterfeiting of designer sunglasses and handbags is a well understood problem, but the dangers of buying laundered fuel can be significant. HMRC have clearly done well to shut down this particular operation.

61 percent of pharmaceutical professionals believe 2011 will be the worst year yet for counterfeit medicines

Edward Mills — Fri, 07 Jan 2011 14:02:14 +0000

A survey by Pharma IQ of 1000 pharmaceuticals anti-counterfeiting professionals has found that most expect counterfeiting activity to grow in 2011. Chinese counterfeiters and internet distribution are identified as major causes of the problem. Anti-counterfeiting professionals will be looking increasingly for new and improved ways to tackle counterfeiters and their dodgy products.

China’s booming bogus business…

Mark Whittlesea — Tue, 02 Nov 2010 15:21:54 +0000

Article about the production of counterfeit goods in China…