Domestic Trade department managed to raid and apprehend a syndicate, selling counterfeit Microsoft products, complete with fake certificates of authenticity in up state Perak. The coordinated efforts between the Ipoh trade branch and the Cyber Team of Putrajaya brought an end to the illegal operation.

According to Dato’ Mohd Roslan Mahayudin, Director of Enforcement “The alleged mastermind running the syndicate has been summoned for questioning and have his statement recorded as part of our on-going investigation.”

The raid resulted in the recovery and seizure of more than 1,000 fake certificates and numerous counterfeit Microsoft box products valued at more than RM800,000, along with 18 personal computer systems, card printing machines and CD-ROM burning machines and other equipment used to produce the fake  products, for further investigation. The culprits are facing penalty of up to RM10,000 for each infringement or imprisonment for a jail term.

It was reported the actors were placing advertisements in online marketplaces and upon receiving payments, the fake software is dispatched leaving unsuspecting customers duped with artificial goods.

In a move to combat the sale of counterfeit software at online marketplaces, the Ministry brought together five popular online marketplaces to sign a pledge to remove any sale of counterfeit software from their portals last year.