HP Hosts Event to Raise Awareness of Counterfeit and Fraudulent Activity in Saudi Arabia

On Sunday, 20 October, HP hosted a local event to help raise awareness of counterfeit and fraudulent activity in the region.  Attendees from private & public sectors gathered to learn about the threats of counterfeit and how to protect their businesses. With collaboration of our guest speakers from Ministry of Commerce and Arabian Anti-Piracy Alliance, HP was able to strongly deliver the message of fighting counterfeit in the region and shed light of the importance Of detecting and avoiding purchasing counterfeit products. 

Counterfeiting has negative effects on the Saudi economy and society in general. Therefore, the concerned authorities are working together to fight counterfeiting of all kinds. The authorities developed laws and strict penalties for consumer protection. 

The event included a live experiment to show the differences in performance between original and compatible print toners, as well as a presentation from HP on how they are working with local authorities to fight against the manufacturing of counterfeit and fraudulent print products in the region. At the event, HP was supported by local spokespeople from the Saudi Ministry of Commerce, the United States Patent & Trademark Office and Saudi Customs.

“Taking action against the growing issue of counterfeiting in the Saudi Arabia is of huge importance to HP. We continue to focus on the protection of customers through our Anti Counterfeiting and Fraud Programme,” said by Narayanan Venkataraman (KV), Managing Director of HP Saudi Arabia. “The number of seizures in the Saudi Arabia continues to rise, so we are working closely with the ministry of commerce and our partners in the region to combat this growing issue through Channel Partner Protection Audits and Customer Delivery Inspections.”

Over the past year, HP has been working closely with local authorities in both the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia to dismantle counterfeiting rings and criminal syndicates involved in the manufacture and sale of counterfeit print supplies. 

HP regularly conducts free expert checks of suspicious printing supplies deliveries for corporate customers throughout the Middle East. These Customer Delivery Inspections (CDIs) protect customers that think they might have received counterfeit cartridges – in fact, around two in three shipments inspected in 2017 in the Middle East turned out to contain illicit products. These inspections thus protected numerous valued customers from risky fakes.

Through HP’s Anti Counterfeiting and Fraud (ACF) Programme, the company actively educates its customers and partners to be vigilant against fake printing supplies. It also cooperates closely with local and global law enforcement authorities to detect and dismantle illegal operations that produce counterfeit HP printing components.