Fake liquor is hard to guard against! Empty high-end whiskey bottles are being snapped up

Empty bottles of high -end whiskey brands such as Pappy Van Winkle, Old Fitzgerald and Macallan have been selling for as much as $ 380 a bottle on sites such as eBay .

Why do empty bottles cost so much? According to filmmaker Hertz , co-writer of the 2021 documentary "Insider ," criminals can refill empty bottles and sell them for well over $2,000 .

According to The Drinks Business, reselling empty gin bottles can generate a profit of up to 31 % on top of the amount paid when they were purchased , with brands such as Mermaid Handcrafted Gin and Gordon's London Dry making huge profits .

In addition to acquiring second-hand empty wine bottles through online markets , bars and other channels , counterfeiters have also invested in a range of equipment, including sealing machines, bottling machines, laser printers, food dyes , gift boxes , labels and bottle caps .

Food dyes are used to change the color of fake wine added to the bottle , and counterfeiters also print fake codes on the packaging . Many wineries use ordinary shrink film seals to package wine bottles , which also makes counterfeiting relatively simple.

In fact, as early as 2019, Sazerac CEO Mark Brown accused platforms such as eBay of providing opportunities for the sale of counterfeit liquor , causing its alcoholic beverage products in the US market to face problems such as methanol and counterfeiting .

eBay said that the platform only allows merchants with pre-approval and sales licenses to sell alcohol. In addition, the website has a corresponding "fake claims" policy. If consumers buy counterfeit and inferior products, they can ask the seller for a refund and get double compensation .

However, simply issuing relevant policies to crack down on and restrain counterfeiters is far from enough . Counterfeiters have many ways to bypass system supervision . Since there is no way to completely punish them , true wine lovers still face great risks when purchasing related products .

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