Stolen goods: threat for brand holders

Diverted goods increasingly bypass legitimate sales channels

Prague/Czech Republic – Stolen or diverted original goods are increasingly undermining legitimate brand holders’ supply chains. According to the Transport Asset Protection Association (TAPA), in Q3 2015 cargo crime has increased by 10.6% compared to the year before in EMEA, including thefts from trucks and warehouses.

Stolen goods start to pop up in the market

During several of our cases in the recent past, the police were able to retrieve goods that had been stolen from a factory before’, states Lukas Drlik, managing director of Vis Probandi, echoing the TAPA statistics for Eastern Europe. These law enforcement actions effectively prevented customers from unknowingly buying stolen or diverted goods from, for example, online shops.

‘Usually, it’s only a matter of time before the stolen goods start to pop up in the market’, Drlik warns. According to Drlik, it is crucial for brand holders to establish a working alarm system. ‘Companies with strong brands need to monitor online platforms and use a network of professional “eyes and ears” in the field to quickly detect suspicious offers’. Otherwise, market strategies may be spoiled and the business of legitimate partners may suffer.

Identify security issues and leaks inside the organisation

‘In order to stop criminals from selling stolen or diverted goods, security issues and leaks need to be identified inside the company’s organisations. Drlik makes the danger clear: ‘We recommend our customers search for the manipulators in the background’.

For this purpose, sophisticated investigation methods, e.g. test purchases with professional cover stories, are invaluable. In the end, solid preparation by brand holders can lead to evidence for the police and allow subsequent search and arrest warrants. Vis Probandi has recently participated in several such cases where tens of thousands of stolen products were finally seized by the authorities.

Picture of trucks: © industrieblick, Fotolia 2015
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