Onur Aksoy, a Miami-based CEO, was arrested and charged for importing counterfeit Cisco equipment from China worth $1 billion and selling them on Amazon and eBay. The U.S. Department of Justice announced on July 12 that it had indicted Onur Ron Aksoy, 38, for selling counterfeit Cisco equipment through numerous online stores. (Source: United States v. Onur Aksoy (Pro Network))
How could Onur Aksoy do that?
The U.S. Department of Justice said, “Defendant Onur Aksoy, also known as “Ron Aksoy” and “Dave Durden,” has been charged with running a massive operation to traffic in fraudulent and counterfeit goods from at least as early as 2013 through at least as recently as 2022. During this period, Aksoy conspired with suppliers in China and Hong Kong and others to import low-quality, modified computer networking devices with counterfeit labels, stickers, boxes, documentation, and packaging that made the goods falsely appear to be new, genuine, and high-quality devices manufactured and authorized by Cisco Systems, Inc. (“Cisco”). Aksoy and his coconspirators then resold those devices in the United States and around the world, falsely representing those devices to buyers as new, genuine, and high-quality Cisco products. During the conspiracy, Aksoy and his coconspirators imported and resold tens of thousands of these fraudulent and counterfeit devices, new and genuine versions of which carried an estimated total retail value of over one billion dollars.”
The U.S. Department of Justice also provided some companies involved:
| Pro Network Companies | Approximate Month and Year of Formation | State of Formation |
| Pro Network LLC | August 2013 | New Jersey |
| Netech Solutions LLC | November 2016 | Florida |
| Target Network Solutions LLC | January 2017 | Florida |
| Easy Network LLC | April 2017 | New Jersey |
| ACE NETUS LLC (a/k/a Ace Network) | April 2017 | New Jersey |
| My Network Dealer LLC | April 2017 | New Jersey |
| 1701 Doral LLC | May 2017 | New Jersey |
(Please check the full list here: United States v. Onur Aksoy (Pro Network) )
Currently, the international ICT market is not stable.
Due to an international shortage of chips and supplies, there are very few ICT products in the global marketplace – which has led to price increases and longer wait times. In some cases, there are even counterfeit or shoddy items being sold – like those mentioned here. This should serve as a warning to anyone who’s thinking about purchasing any type of ICT items at all right now.
So as a user, how should you beware of such scams?
It is necessary to have a clear understanding of the products of various brands and know how to distinguish whether the products are genuine. Cisco, as one of the most easily copied brands, here, we recommend you to read this guide How to Tell Cisco Product Is Genuine?
When shopping for an item, one needs to make sure they choose a reliable seller. One way to do this is to search on Google and look at their website where you can find different certificates of quality or simply call them.
Another way is to post questions about your potential seller at an online forum so that others who may have already dealt with this supplier before could give their feedback (bad or good). You might also find opinions about them through testimonials on review sites like Yelp and such.
As long as the information supplied was convincing enough, then one could go ahead and place a small order from said supplier just to test the waters. If it turned out well, then one could proceed and place a larger quantity order. It is important not only to choose suppliers responsibly but also wisely!
There are also many reliable suppliers you can trust. Router-switch.com, a 20-year company, strive to build a bridge to connect IT hardware to people and the world. Adhering to the “customer first”, Router-switch.com establish a quick, safe and reliable supply chain with global 500 suppliers, provide 100,000+ products to 18000+ enterprise customers. For more information, you can visit: https://www.router-switch.com.
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