Last Friday, the US Department of Justice (DOJ) revealed that a Florida citizen named Ron Aksoy had been arrested and alleged with selling thousands of fake and counterfeit Cisco goods over 12 years. 

Aksoy, also known as Dave Durden, would have operated at least 19 firms based in New Jersey and Florida, as well as at least 15 Amazon stores, around 10 eBay storefronts, and many additional corporations worth more than $1 billion. Aksoy faces three counts of mail fraud, four counts of wire fraud, and three counts of trafficking in counterfeit products. 

According to court records, the fraudulent firms purchased tens of thousands of counterfeit Cisco networking equipment from China and Hong Kong and resold them to consumers in the United States and across the world, fraudulently advertising the items as new and authentic. Chinese counterfeiters modified earlier, lower-model goods (some of which had been sold or dumped) to look to be authentic versions of newer, improved, and more expensive Cisco gear. 

As a result, the fraudulent and counterfeit items had severe performance, functionality, and safety issues, costing users tens of thousands of dollars. According to the indictment, between 2014 and 2022, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) confiscated approximately 180 shipments of counterfeit Cisco equipment being transported to the Pro Network Entities (the fraudulent firm name under which Aksoy operated) from China and Hong Kong. 

In response to some of these seizures, Aksoy would have filed fraudulent official papers to CBP using the pseudonym "Dave Durden," which he also used to contact with Chinese co-conspirators. The entire enterprise reportedly generated over $100 million in income, with Aksoy keeping a sizable portion while his co-conspirators received the remainder. Potential victims have been advised to get in touch with authorities. 

The DOJ has developed a publicly available list of Pro Network firms, as well as the accused criminal's eBay and Amazon stores.