Drug Fraud is costing $300 Million a year

Bristol, England -- (SBWIRE) -- 12/10/2009 -- Counterfeiting is a major problem across many industries, and it's getting worse. According to Travis Johnson, Vice President and Director of Legislative Affairs and Policy for the International Anti-Counterfeiting Coalition , in the 30 years since the association was formed, there has been significant growth both in terms of volume and diversification of fraud items. "Back in the 1970s and 1980s counterfeiting was largely a concern for apparel companies and luxury goods brands," he says.

"The stereotype of the fake handbag, or $20 Rolex that someone would be selling on the street corner. Since then we've seen the expansion of the counterfeiting problem into every possible product sector. We have members from the automotive section, the music industry, video games, movies, computer software – and pharmaceuticals. Any product sector you can think of, even things like toothbrushes and shampoo."

Johnson says that internationally, across all industries, the estimates of the value of counterfeit trade range from over $200 billion a year, to as high as $700 billion a year and the Pharmaceuticals industry is great example. "You wouldn't normally expect to see someone selling prescription drugs unless they're a pharmacist, no matter what the outlet, whether it's a bricks-and-mortar traditional type store or over the internet. If you buy prescription drugs over the internet without a prescription, that's an obvious tip-off that it's not a legitimate product. They're either selling counterfeit product, or stolen or misdirected product. In any case it's a product that you have no way of knowing whether it was properly stored whether it's been tampered with or diluted. Many people think they're getting a good bargain and don't really consider all of the other facts, unfortunately, sometimes with very bad consequences."

Johnson feels that the situation for counterfeit pharmaceuticals is at a bit of a crossroads . Laws around the world have improved and the industry has made a major forward in acknowledging and addressing the problem. He does believe, however, that there are areas require additional focus on in the coming years.

"One of the main areas we need to look at is continuing to educate the public. Last year in the US, approximately $30 million worth of counterfeit pharmaceuticals were intercepted by customs out of $300 million in total counterfeit goods that came into the country. Some of the economic estimates for the actual total market for counterfeit goods in the United States is upwards of $200 billion.

"We need to bring the message to consumers about all the reasons why they should not be supporting counterfeit fraud, whether it's their own health and safety, or the fact that people are losing their jobs, or the impact on the economy. By doing that, we can make a real impact on the spread of counterfeiting."

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Ron Green has recently spoken out on his current role as SVP of Customer Solutions for Bank of America (BOA) for GDS International’s Meettheboss TV .

Bristol, UK -- (SBWIRE) -- 12/09/2009 -- Cyber crime <http://www.gdsinternational.com/infocentre/internet-scams.asp> is relatively new, but has now grown exponentially. It is an ongoing issue for financial institutions and with the Bank of America being one of the biggest in the US combat methods must constantly evolve. So they brought in Ron Green from the US secret Service to secure the Banks customer facing business.

"if I were to grab a group of a hundred people to try and steal their information, there's a good chance that I'll get a good percentage of Bank of America" Ron Green continues "The line between Forensic Murder investigation and bank crime may be closer than we imagined."

Recent surveys show that one of the biggest financial consumer requests is for their service to be available on a mobile platform which is both fast and secure. This is an innovative step in personal finance but the risks are high according to Ron. "Our own infrastructure (Bank of America) is well protected, cared for, maintained, it is pretty hard to target so scammers are shifting to the softer targets – the customers"

This shift is concern for all banks, a customer does not have the resources of a large institution to protect their devices, leaving them and their finances open to scammers <http://www.cxo.eu.com/news/madoff-auction/> , and it is at this juncture where information will be compromised.

You can see the full interview with Ron Green <http://www.meettheboss.com/Broadcast-Player.aspx?Play=1&MediaID=108> here

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Marketing executives admit online initiatives are still a gray area

Bristol, England -- (SBWIRE) -- 12/08/2009 -- The economy is putting ever-increasing demands on marketers to make every euro count and demonstrate positive ROI. According to the "iStrategy" a leading program of Business, Marketing and Creative professionals (ran by GDS International), the demand to perform is driving marketers online. More than one-third of marketers attending the iStrategy program were surveyed and believed that interactive marketing ROI would be more profitable than traditional marketing-such as TV, radio and outdoor in 2010. In fact 27% of the marketers indicated they would shift Euro spend from traditional media into the digital space although 34% didn't know how to measure their online ROI.

Max Ford iStrategy Director went on to explain "The problem with shifting funds to digital initiatives is that consumers are gravitating to areas where the metrics are still pretty shaky, such as blogging, social networking, video and word-of-mouth. Paradoxically, under much pressure and with little choice, the drive for performance seems to be pushing marketers into spaces where they have few means to measure ROI, and we hope to help them find out how to do so".

The next iStrategy meeting will be held in Berlin early next year and includes Michael Donnelly, Group Director Worldwide Interactive Marketing, Coca-Cola and Michael Buck Global Head SMB Online Dell who will be sharing their success in moving into the Digital Space.

For more information on this press release visit: http://www.releasewire.com/press-releases/release-3.htm