'Bag addict' can spot fakes

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Counterfeiting is a growing business. In Charlotte alone, it was up more than 40 percent last year. Nationwide it is up more than 80 percent.

The demand for designer bags means purses are popular among knock-off artists. Allison Green is a self-proclaimed bag addict. She’s proud she knows how to buy the real thing, but she’s constantly watching for counterfeits.

“You have to be really careful,” she said. Her favorite designer right now is Marc Jacobs. She owns two dozen of his bags and says you can find good deals on the internet.

“I found one that’s a starting bid of $320,” Green said as we sat with her in front of her computer, but she said it was a fake. “The dead giveaway is the zipper.”

The zipper was pointed and the real Marc Jacobs zipper is rounded. Paying a lot of money, doesn’t mean it’s the real thing.

“I’m just tired of wasting my time. If I’m on the hunt for a new bag, it is really annoying to know that people are out there with their hard-earned money on these bags, and they are fake,” she said.

High dollar purse makers all do things to make their designs unique. Identifiers, like the font they use, serial tags, the stitching or the color of the string on the tag.

“It’s a very popular thing and people tend to produce what’s going on to sell, and those things sell,” Patricia Fitzpatrick with the North Carolina Port Director for U.S. Customs.

“It’s a very big problem,” she said. A problem that happens even in places you may not expect, forget online or on the big city street corner, counterfeits can show up in department stores.

“Someone can buy the real bag, keep the receipt and find the identical bag, return it to the store and the sales associate doesn’t know,” said Green.

Some of her friends have bought counterfeits they thought were real in a legitimate store. Fitzpatrick says she’s even seen counterfeit merchandise in the middle of the mall.

“It's really up to the store owner and the person buying it to know who they are buying it from,” said Fitzpatrick.

And it's not just purses. It can be hats, watches or even golf clubs.

“People think, 'oh I’m buying one purse, who is it hurting?' But, it is really hurting that industry because it takes away from the product too, it takes away from the label,” said Fitzpatrick.

And you are likely supporting more than just a counterfeiter said Fitzpatrick.

“The proceeds most certainly go to other activities. They bankroll that profit into other things, whether it's illegal immigration, drugs, weapons and all sorts of things.”

The only way you can be completely sure your bag is real to buy it directly from the manufacturer. Employees there are trained to spot a fake.

There is a luxury online auction Web site called Portero that guarantees all its products are the real thing. All products come with a certificate of authenticity. For more information click here.