123inkt reports widespread proliferation of counterfeit HP toners in circulation across Europe.
Netherland’s based webshop 123inkt is reporting an increased volume of counterfeit HP toners widely circulating across Europe. The company reports that “these toners have been counterfeited so well that even our warehouse staff and our (official) suppliers could not distinguish them from the real thing! As a result, it could happen that counterfeit HP toners ended up in our stock due to deliveries from at least seven different European suppliers.”
123inkt also reports that their “sister companies in Ireland, Poland, Spain and Sweden also found counterfeit HP toners in their stock. These colleagues also source their stock from local suppliers. In addition, we placed test orders with various competitors in various European countries and counterfeit HP toners were also found there. It is therefore not only a problem in the Netherlands or only at 123ink, news sources from the market show that this is a major European problem.”
On checking stock, the company said they found at least 56 counterfeit HP toner models across their warehouses and these toners were immediately removed from stock.
123int reports that “at [a] European level there are at least 56 different models from 12 different colour series and 9 mono toners.”
The models that are now known to 123inkt are following:
Colour series: HP 125A, HP 128A, HP 130A, HP 131A, HP 201A, HP 203A, HP 205A, HP 304A, HP 305A, HP 307A, HP 41 0A/X, HP 507A and the HP 508A.
Monochrome toners: HP 05A (CE505A), HP 26A (CF226A), HP 26X (CF226X), HP 55A (CE255A), HP 55X (CE255X), HP 78A (CE278A), HP 80A (CF280A), HP 87 A (CF287 A) and the HP 90 (CE390A).
The 123inkt alert believes but cannot guarantee that the counterfeit HP toners entered the market this year.
The company reports that the counterfeit HP toners are “deceptively accurate and look indistinguishable from the original [and] the packaging is almost the same, the unique security label (hologram) indicates that it concerns an official HP product.”
“After [the] installation you will not receive a message about a non-HP product and the printer software will indicate that it is an original HP product. has been installed.
123inkt advises that: “You cannot tell from the packaging and the printer software that it is a counterfeit, but you can tell from the toner [cartridge] itself.” An inspection of the cartridge indicates that it is a used original HP toner, which has been dismantled and refilled and has a filling hole in the toner tank that is sealed with a plastic cap.”
This above was translated from Dutch and the original 123inkt alert can be found here.
Meanwhile, The Recycler contacted two other HP dealers this morning, who confirmed they were aware of the issue and had received some counterfeit stock recently. One described it as “we have been spoofed, if you get a pallet of counterfeit product, it stands out, when you get 10% or 20% of counterfeit product on a pallet, it is harder to spot and the packaging, although counterfeit, is very good quality.”
It is not just HP; The Recycler is currently following up on the counterfeiting of another OEM brand.
Our take on this: Counterfeiting is a crime, pure and simple. But it is also much more. Counterfeit toner cartridges at the OEM level are damaging to consumers, undermines trust in the OEM and wider channel, and constitutes a criminal act. It is crucial to address this issue through collaborative efforts to protect the integrity of the channel and maintain consumer confidence.
The challenge for HP is to stop this quickly, or consumers will switch brands.
