It recently came to light (see also
tonernews.com) that counterfeit HP toners are in circulation around Europe. These imitations are so good that even official suppliers can’t distinguish them from the real thing. As a result, at least seven different European suppliers unknowingly shipped counterfeit HP toners to us recently.
Our investigations show that this problem isn’t particular to Ireland. Sister companies in Holland, Poland, Spain and Sweden also found counterfeit HP toners in their stock, sourced from local and international distributors. Counterfeit HP toners were also found in test orders from suppliers in several European countries. News sources from the market indicate that this is a major European problem
123ink has now checked all HP toners in stock and removed any counterfeits found. In addition, we’ve formed a special customer service team and informed customers who may have unintentionally received a counterfeit HP toner via email (click here to read the email).
As far as is currently known in Europe, this concerns 9 black toners for mono printers (black/white) and 13 different colour series.
These counterfeit HP toners are almost indistinguishable from the original. The packaging is almost identical and the QR code identifies it as an official HP product. Even after installation the printer doesn’t give an error message. However, once the packaging is removed, the counterfeit HP toners are easily identified by the filling hole that’s been sealed with a plastic cap.
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