Man Arrested For Selling $1 Billion Of Counterfeit Cisco Equipment On Amazon and eBay

Will Amazon and eBay step up with guaranteed refunds for deceived consumers?

July 14, 2022, Los Angeles, CA – Miami-based 38-year-old Onur “Ron” Aksoy has been arrested and charged with selling $1 billion (yes, billion) of counterfeit Cisco networking hardware on Amazon and eBay. According to an article by PC Magazine's Michael Kan, the fraudulent Cisco devices were imported from China and Hong Kong and resold as genuine items on the e-commerce sites.

Image: PC Magazine -- One of the sites Aksoy seems to be using to sell the Cisco gear.

According to the allegations in the criminal complaint:

• Aksoy created, owned, and controlled "Pro Network," a criminal operation that orchestrated a massive and fraudulent operation to traffic in counterfeit goods purported to be genuine, new and high-quality Cisco computer networking equipment. End users of these counterfeit devices included hospitals, schools, government agencies, and the military, raising substantial security concerns.
• Chinese counterfeiters often added pirated Cisco software and unauthorized, low-quality, or unreliable components—including components to circumvent technological measures added by Cisco to the software to check for software license compliance and to authenticate the hardware,
• The counterfeit Cisco products suffered numerous and significant performance, functionality, and safety problems. At times, the counterfeit products would simply fail or otherwise malfunction, causing substantial damage to their users' networks and operations and, in some cases, costing their users tens of thousands of dollars.
• Aksoy and the Counterfeit Suppliers would routinely break up large orders of counterfeit Cisco products into multiple smaller shipments dispatched on different days and ship counterfeit Cisco products to undeliverable addresses. The shipments' final shipping addresses would be changed to Pro Network's headquarters only after they had cleared inspection by CBP. Cisco sent at least seven cease-and-desist letters to Aksoy.
• Aksoy received frequent notifications throughout the scheme that the purported Cisco products he was purchasing and reselling were counterfeits. CBP officials seized approximately 180 shipments of counterfeit Cisco products, comprising approximately 860 counterfeit devices, from numerous Counterfeit Suppliers to Aksoy. Customers and resellers complained about the counterfeit, substandard, or used products, or broken and missing parts. Products did not work and were either not covered or were not eligible for Cisco technical support coverage.
• Amazon routinely terminated specific product listings for purported Cisco products on Amazon storefronts under the control of Aksoy and Pro Network, and even entire storefronts, in response to counterfeit complaints from customers and Cisco.
• Execution of a search warrant at Pro Network's warehouse and headquarters in Doral, Florida in July 2021 resulted in the seizure of approximately 1,156 counterfeit Cisco devices with a total MSRP of approximately $7,011,296.

The enormity of Amazon and eBay's counterfeit problems cannot be understated. Amazon's illusory claim, "Products offered for sale on Amazon must be authentic. The sale of counterfeit products is strictly prohibited," is patently false. Over 700,000 brands are fighting Amazon counterfeits -- a shocking revelation of the enormity of Amazon's counterfeit problem.

Aksoy's arrest begs the question, will Amazon and eBay step up and issue refunds to their deceived consumers under the conditions of their consumer guarantees? Both websites have refund guarantees for items that are damaged, defective, counterfeit or materially different from what was ordered. Amazon also covers property damage or personal injury due to a defective product sold by Amazon. However, Amazon and eBay have argued (mostly successfully) that they should not be directly or secondarily liable for selling counterfeit or infringing goods from third parties on their platforms. Yet, they still take a transaction fee usually around 12-15%, to as high as 45% for some Amazon items, for each item sold.