Police take down Counterfeit Heritage Grill Seller

BLindzy · Oct 28, 2022

Glad I got mine when I did!.... LOL

JdevTac · Oct 28, 2022

Just a publicity stunt. Like Amaz0n actually gives a flying fuck about all the foreign repros and garbage going through its warehouses.

If it’s a critical name brand product, Amaz0n is at the bottom of retailer choices for me. If it’s a cheap pack of rubber bands I need sold by XIYAO BabyGEE then I know where to get them.

AJH387 · Oct 28, 2022

I am curious how that escalated. Like if there was a warning from Toyota first or something. Kind of shocked to just see a team of police bust in and haul a guy off and take everything.

FLAK-TAC · Oct 28, 2022

Couldn’t you say everything sold on Amazon is counterfeit??

maineah · Oct 28, 2022

Ya don't think this only one of many counterfeit things they go after just seemed to get more headlines because some one found the post.

02Duck · Oct 28, 2022

whatstcp said: ↑

Amazon got a 30 man team of state and federal officers to raid a dude sitting at home with his fluffy white dog and an unoccupied warehouse with shitty knockoff grilles? Meanwhile we have our cars and catalytic converters stolen, windows smashed, property stolen with one cop in a lonely patrol car that shows up hours later and huffs, "do you REALLY want me to write a report? I can just do an incident number? It's unlikely anything will come of this"

When George Carlin said, "there's a big club and you ain't in it" he sure wasn't kidding
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X2

Ryan's Taco · Oct 28, 2022

As someone stated Toyota is the thief. I just bought my pro and it came with a messed up grille. Toyota wanted $1100 CDN for the grille and garnish. $225 Amazon to my door. With the prices of things these days who can pay 5x times the price for something.

Chew · Oct 28, 2022

whatstcp said: ↑

Like half of that team is county cops and I'm pretty sure everyone gets paid off taxpayer money, unless this was sponsored by bake sales.

The point is, according to the hyped up video with editing, is that all this video shows is it took 30 people to take down someone like running4tacos, or tacomabeast, or any of the multiple vendors out there just selling a knockoff grille. Not people that are hiding the fact that they are selling knockoffs, not some shady enterprise, not some people that are going to go out guns blazing when they hear the door kicked in. Literally some dude that was probably logged onto TW posting in a Friday thread when this whole taskforce came and told him to come out. Unless there's some criminal world where the sales of these grilles are linked to cartel members, or there are stacks of guns, drugs, and trafficked people standing next to the boxes of grilles, this all seems hella excessive.

What your saying is we don't understand how the system works. What I'm saying is, you're right, I don't understand how it works but from where I'm standing, from what they're flaunting as success, and from what I'm currently living, the system sure seems like it's working perfectly at being f'ed up.
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I’m pretty sure I get what you’re saying- it’s more about is a priority or a proportional response? I have zero sympathy for the thief, but I get what you’re saying. I’ll agree, I’d much rather them go after the dope man or the violent criminals,,,,, but at the end of the day, another criminal is off the streets and another criminal organization has taken a financial hit,,, so still a win to me.

dangeroso · Oct 28, 2022

JoeCOVA said: ↑

I dont buy much on Amazon anymore, cheap chinese shit everywhere.
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This. And counterfeit goods everywhere.

Some established sellers are just scammers and even legitimate sellers are selling counterfeit goods unknowingly due to people buying legitimate items and then “returning” counterfeit items which are resold.

Ryan's Taco · Oct 28, 2022

Maybe the cops all drive non pro's?

ColoradoTJ · Oct 28, 2022

crashnburn80 said: ↑

Yeah, no. This is straight up intellectual property theft and illegally importing forged products. IP thieves deserve to be aggressively taken down. If you believe stealing someones IP designs then reproducing them overseas in China, illegally smuggling them into the US, and trying to uncut the IP owner is somehow legitimate so you can save a buck, you need a hard reality check. IP thieves undermine small business and large alike. I've personally been involved in reporting and pursuing many IP thieves that have damaged our lighting community with counterfeit products. Fucking scum.
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I agree, and with these counterfeit products can have some serious cost to the end user. Some examples:

-Toyota Iridium spark plugs vs fake ones. One of my friends installed some fake ones in his car from Amazon. The electrode broke off in 10k miles and dropped on top of the piston. Used motor and install was 5500.00. I get it. People don’t wanna spend 174.00 on six spark plugs (I get mind from a wholesale Lexus dealer at half the cost).

- I have been in the diesel world since 2004. Injector bodies has been a problem for a while. Some companies import these cheap Chinese manufacturer parts and mix them up with good quality parts. What ends up happening is the injector body cracks. If someone has gauges and watches rail pressure they might save the motor. I monitor the command vs actual (4351 psi vs 4313 psi), but most people don’t take the time to set up monitors and parameters. Mine are set to warn me of 500 psi difference.

A new set of injectors can run 2800-5000.00 depending on what you want. Motors are 4800.00 for a long block.

-Tractors. Holy hell. I purchased a Kubota tractor for the whole parts availability and reliability issues some people have had with other brands. Kinda like buying a Toyota vs Kia.

-Very recently a buddy installed some aftermarket bulbs in his Lexus IS300 and it melted his housing and burnt up his ballast. Not sure what happened there.

I’m sure there are many more examples of knock off parts that can have serious and expensive outcomes. These are just my experiences.

I can speak for the whole staff on this one. We are glad you take the time and have the test equipment/knowledge to call out the claims of these companies that are peddling crap in the lighting department. For a while there we had requests to shut you down all the time. We agreed to do so when these vendors could prove you wrong otherwise. We haven’t heard anything for a while…

5nahalf · Oct 28, 2022

Amazon is a rip off most of the time now anyways. I check the manufacturer of the items I want, and generally can get them 20% cheaper right from the source.

G2.M6 · Oct 28, 2022

This is why I just paid the 5k extra for the PRO.

Ryan's Taco · Oct 28, 2022

G2.M6 said: ↑

This is why I just paid the 5k extra for the PRO.
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Now like me if you have the pro and a bird hit your grille. Would you spend the 1100cdn from Toyota or 225 from Amazon to replace?

vicali · Oct 28, 2022

The real crime here is they missed the ones with Raptor lights..

mlcc · Oct 28, 2022

vicali said: ↑

The real crime here is they missed the ones with Raptor lights..
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Just start pulling people over who have raptor lights that aren't wide enough to have a need for them.

That one old guy · Oct 28, 2022

whatstcp said: ↑

this all seems hella excessive.
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Boy Howdy X100

Volt · Oct 28, 2022

I suspect a lot of brand name oil, cabin and air filters sold on Amazon are fake.

vicali · Oct 28, 2022

Not only is he the president, but also a member.
Also, dude owns a Super White, no wonder he's bitter..

thewrongtone · Oct 28, 2022

crashnburn80 said: ↑

Illegal counterfeit goods is a Federal offense and under Federal jurisdiction for investigation. Those are Federal special agents, that isn't your local police force. Your local cars and cats stolen is a local municipality police issue. The FBI is not coming to your house about your cat being stolen. They are not the same police forces, not funded by the same budgets and not related in any way. If your local police department isn't responding to the needs of your local community that is an operational issue that needs to be addressed locally.

Edit: It isn't that I'm not sympathetic, but people need to understand how the system works before making wild accusatory statements like their police forces are not paying attention to common folk and instead going after illegal importers when they are not the same groups at all.

They don't have the letters because if they did they get seized at customs as an illegal forged product. So they import the letters separately, then they can be attached here to recreate the fake grill after bypassing customs.
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Police take down Counterfeit Heritage Grill Seller

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Police take down Counterfeit Heritage Grill Seller

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#52 5nahalf I build dumb things

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#41
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#42
JdevTac Well-Known Member

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AJH387 Well-Known Member

#44
FLAK-TAC Only banned twice…so far

#45
maineah Well-Known Member

#46
02Duck manuals make it better

#47
Ryan's Taco Well-Known Member

#48
Chew Not so well known user

#49
dangeroso Just float along and fill your lungs

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Ryan's Taco Well-Known Member

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ColoradoTJ Retired cat herder Moderator

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5nahalf I build dumb things

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vicali Touch my camera through the fence

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