Houston CBP seizes nearly $1 million in counterfeit lithium batteries

All right. So we learned today that nearly a million dollars worth of counterfeit lithium batteries were actually seized right here in Houston. So we want to learn more about this. Leslie Dela Sportsman following that story for us. Leslie, what's that? A million dollars worth of counterfeit batteries. And here's the thing. You may not realize that. I mean, I realize that those of you watching at home, you may not even realize that you could be buying a fake battery. So U.S. Customs and Border Protection said these batteries were using the Bluetooth logo. We all know what the Bluetooth logo looks like. They were using it without permission. I know that you had to have permission to use a Bluetooth logo, right? Talking to our tech expert today, he said that's a small detail, but it's a huge problem because, I mean, we know just how dangerous these counterfeit lithium batteries can be. The main thing is they could explode. So I want you to take a look at what Customs found here in Houston. So we're talking about 290 cartons of lithium batteries, again, nearly worth $1 million. Now, the batteries were labeled Easy Cruiser, and again, they had the Bluetooth logo on them, but they weren't allowed to use it. So after checking with trademark reps, officers seized the shipment. But here's the thing. The Houston officers have come across counterfeit products. We're talking fake watches, toys, even World Cup merch. Yeah, I remember that story. Yes, exactly, exactly. So they said that these kind of products hurt legitimate businesses, but when it comes to electronics, they can hurt us. Buying counterfeit batteries is a bad deal because they can explode, they can blow up. Avoid buying stuff on Facebook market. They could be stolen goods, they could be counterfeit goods. If you want to buy online, make sure that if you are buying goods from a reputable outlet such as Amazon, for example, eBay does a good job in making sure that they're not selling counterfeit goods or stolen goods or a brick and mortar. Tech usually has counterfeits from watches, phones, batteries, computers. That's the reason why they're cheap. But the reason why they're cheap is because they do not comply with the specs they need to keep you safe. So what else are tech experts saying about this? So you kind of heard him touch on a few things, right? He said some of these items, they aren't built right. They might swell, overheat, explode. And you really want to pay attention to where you're buying these items from. But again, other thing he said was pay attention to the price. Because a lot of these items, they have kind of this general price range, right? So if you see something that's a little bit lower than what you're used to normally seeing it at, that's when your red flags may want to come up, right? And then obviously, he said stick with trusted retailers and avoid buying batteries from unknown sellers. Things that, again, might look like they're off. All right, Leslie. Yeah, it's good stuff, though. Thanks a lot for that, Liz.