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Blog Category
Notebook
Field notes on counterfeiting, enforcement, and the long, unglamorous work of catching the people behind the fakes.
6 articles in this category
This is where I keep the notes that don't fit between the covers of a book. Pieces on counterfeiting, brand protection, and the gap between how the fight against fakes is sold and how it actually works. If you have read The Takedown, this is the continuing conversation. If you haven't, it is a fair sample of the argument.
The throughline is simple and it does not change. You cannot out-produce a counterfeiter. A takedown removes a listing, not a seller. The only thing that reliably changes a counterfeiter's behaviour is being unmasked and made to pay. Counterfeiting is an attribution problem, not a volume problem. The posts here work that idea through real cases and the mechanics of the hunt.
Everything is sourced to public record. Where I am not certain, I say so.
Key takeaways
- Counterfeiting is a two-trillion-dollar shadow economy, and most of the people fighting it are losing on purpose.
- Takedowns count listings, not people. The seller has hundreds more listings ready and loses nothing.
- What works is harder: unmask the human, follow the money, freeze the accounts, recover.
- Every claim here is drawn from public record.
Articles in Notebook
Notebook-9 min
How Do Counterfeiters Actually Get Caught?
Counterfeiters get caught by attribution, not takedowns: unmask the human, follow the money to a verified account, freeze it, force recovery.
5 June 2026
Notebook-8 min
How to Spot a Counterfeit: What Investigators Actually Check
The signals investigators check to spot a fake: listing and price, the parcel and paperwork, and the physical teardown. Practical, honest, no certainty.
5 June 2026
Notebook-10 min
Superfakes Explained: How Mirror-Grade Counterfeits Fool the Experts
What a superfake is, why mirror-grade fakes fool authenticators, and how the makers and resellers actually get caught. A plain guide.
5 June 2026
Notebook-12 min
What Is Schedule A Litigation? A Plain-English Guide
Schedule A litigation lets a brand sue thousands of anonymous online sellers at once, freezing their accounts before they know they've been sued. Here's how it works.
5 June 2026
Notebook-9 min
Why Do Takedowns Fail Against Counterfeiters?
Takedowns remove listings, not sellers. Here is why whack-a-mole enforcement loses, and what actually changes a counterfeiter's behaviour.
5 June 2026
Notebook-2 min
Why I Wrote The Takedown
A book about how the world's counterfeiters get caught, and why almost everyone fighting fakes is fighting the wrong battle.
1 June 2026