It might be time to check the authenticity of your new luxury watch.
US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers in Indianapolis seized two shipments of counterfeit Rolex watches on April 27 and 29. The fake luxury watches would have had a total value of $10.1 million if real, according to a news release from CBP.
Both shipments had originated in Hong Kong and were destined for Brooklyn, New York, the CBP said. The agency was tipped off by intelligence gathering and a history of fraudulent shipments from the same vendor – which triggered them to detain and inspect the two April shipments, the CBP said.
The April 27 shipment contained 300 counterfeit Rolex watches and the April 29 shipment had 160 counterfeit Rolex watches, according to the news release.
“No one buys a luxury brand watch expecting it to fail or fall apart,” LaFonda Sutton-Burke, CBP’s Chicago director of field operations, said in the news release.
“As consumers increasingly purchase from online or third party vendors, our officers are at the frontline to guard against defrauders expecting to make money selling fake merchandise.”