Lagos — The recent increase in the prices of commodities in the global arena has crept into the nation and has seen the prices of goods and commodities hitting the skies, far out of reach of the common man on the streets.

The National Bureau of Statistics a few days ago disclosed that the economy had hit a two digit inflationary rate. The negative effects of this inflationary trend could be linked to the increase in armed robbery and criminal activities despite claims by government that crime has reduced.

But common Nigerians who don't have the good fortune to move around and conduct their daily businesses with sirens and outriders would not agree with this political statement that crime is low.

In a bid to make ends meet, many Nigerians are perfecting the art of counterfeiting for profit. Copying is the name of the game and the noise about intellectual property is just noise to their ears as any means of making a hit, no matter whose ox is gored is what is in vogue today.

The effect of the desperation of people to profit via counterfeiting and the proliferation of fake and substandard goods is common for all to see. Some even use their rooms as mini factories to manufacture their own peculiar brands of adulterated products.

Many Nigerians have in one way or the other at one time or the other fallen victims and purchased a fake CD, fake VCD, fake phone, fake laptop, fake router, fake USB, fake cables and other technological gadgets that they have come to rely on especially mobile devices.

The issue is so rampant that the need to put a buyer beware caveat on all devices purchased is now desirable in the bid to try and warn buyers to take a second look at what they are buying.

But therein also lies the danger of such purchases because the counterfeit products look so real in packaging and sometimes even the manufacturers of the original, get fooled.

This brings one to the question of "what can be done to ensure that one does not fall into the trap of buying fake products that sometimes might not last a day or week no matter how good the product and its packaging looks. Well, the first thing to do to avoid biting your fingers in regret is to buy from the accredited resellers of the manufacturer's representatives or from their authorised outlets.

The products sold at these centres are genuine and carry a warranty thus protecting the buyer in case of any negative events or a malfunction.

Though the products from these outlets are a little bit more expensive than what you get in the grey market as these fake markets are called, but what you get in terms of peace and assurance of the quality you are purchasing cannot be quantified.

Believe me the few kobos you will save from buying from the grey market will cost you something because at the end of the day, what you will take home is nothing more than a compromised package that will not stand the test of time.

Let me give you a good example, a young school leaver who got admission to study computer engineering convinced his struggling parents to buy him a desktop to use at home to practice and sharpen his skills. His parents obliged him and gave him money to purchase one.

But instead of going to the right source to get his desktop, he went to a popular market in Lagos where they have the not so good, the bad and the ugly and got one for what he thought was a kill. But he was the one that got fooled. It later turned out that those who sold him the sparkling desktop were actually the ones who had made a kill, because that desktop packed up in less than three months and when he went back to complain, he was told to bring money to buy another one.

A case of penny wise, pound foolish. If he had gone to genuine agents to buy his desktop, he would have had a warranty that will protect him for at least a year, so that in the event of any malady, he will have a place to take it to for prompt attention rather than a situation where his desktop is staring at him in the face and has been reduced to a piece of furniture gathering dust on his table..

This is a common scenario that Nigerians face daily. The situation is not peculiar to Nigeria alone as many global economies are also grappling with the same problem. The counterfeiting menace is a global one that has defied all attempts to curb it and it's currently the world's fastest-growing crime perpetrated anonymously. Counterfeit products cost genuine manufacturers about $500 billion annually.

The UK media a few days ago alerted the people to the proliferation of fake telephone charges which it said had found its way into UK markets and urged the people to be careful and observant when buying new charges for their phones. Most economies are known to have lost and are loosing millions of dollars everyday to the antics of these group of people who have perfected the art of robbing Nigerians without guns but through the sales of fake and adulterated products.

In other to avoid being a victim, there are measures that Nigerians can take especially as the increasing uptake of technology in Nigeria means that more devices and tools will be needed by Nigerians to keep them ahead digitally. One is that you must buy from accredited sources. Resist the temptation of buying from the grey market.

Two, check out the price closely. Chances are that if the price is too good to be true, then it is. Cheap articles like they say runs the stomach. Go for the real thing even if it's slightly more expensive. It's better to have one genuine stuff that will last you the whole hog than to go for a dozen substandard ones.

Three, examine the devices you want to buy very carefully. Look out for wrong spellings, bad packaging, the attachment of the logos and brand names. But the best protection for the consumer remains buying from accredited resellers or franchised dealers so that if any issue arises you will get attention and possibly a refund as opposed to buying from traffic or street corners because you are on your own if anything goes wrong with your device.

To combat this menace in the country, authorities like the Standard Organisation of Nigeria and the BSA are working to stamp out this illicit trade. Nigerians can help their quest by staying away from and refusing to purchase items from these fake outlets.

The truth of the matter is that except you are smart as a Nigerian, scammers and fraudulent people who have perfected the art of fleecing Nigerians dry and toying with the ignorance of the masses will keep ripping people off their hard earned money through any means they can get away with, be it through counterfeiting, 419, obtaining by tricks, fraud etc. A saying that aptly illustrates this is the idiom that the cunning man is the king of fools. Refuse to be any body's fool.