The ‘Cisco’ gear you bought from these companies could be counterfeit

Business entities in Florida and New Jersey, plus 25 storefronts on Amazon and eBay, sold old Cisco gear that had been cosmetically altered to seem like new, more advanced models, part of a conspiracy going back eight years. The counterfeit-distribution operation was selling the networking devices for a tenth what it would cost if they were legitimate, according to the US Department of Justice. It estimated the conspiracy took in more than $100 million in revenue, and that—if the equipment had been what it was purported to be—would have retailed for more than $1 billion.