Counterfeiters Copy Official Motorcycle-Lubricant Packaging Technology

HENDRICUS ARGA YUDHANTARA

Tool for coloring fake oil. This tool is used to change the color of the fake oil to match the color of the oil to be counterfeited, on Tuesday (18/10/2022).

Some manufacturers of counterfeit motorcycle lubricants on the market try to make lubricants identical to official-oil products, especially in terms of packaging and labeling technology.

JAKARTA, KOMPAS — The packaging of fake motorcycle lubricants on the market almost resembles that of genuine products. Manufacturers of counterfeit lubricants not only copy the labels on the packaging, but also try to copy the labeling technology developed by oil manufacturers of major brands.

Kompas bought various brands of motorcycle oil at a number of workshops in Jakarta; Tangerang, Banten; Bekasi, West Java; and Semarang, Central Java, in October and November. One of those purchased was MPX2 oil for automatic motorcycles produced by Astra Honda Motor (AHM).

Referring to the information on the official website of PT Wahana Makmur Sejati, the main dealer for Honda motorbikes in Jakarta, there are a number of characteristics of the official MPX2 oil products, including bright-white AHM oil-bottle packaging. Therefore, people are asked to be careful when buying new oil packaged in a dull-colored bottle.

In addition, the bottle cap has the same security code and is aligned, whereas fake-oil bottles are not aligned or even have no security code at all.

Another feature is that the window (a transparent part to see the volume of oil in the bottle) in the original bottle is narrow, while in the fake one, it is generally wider. In addition, the bottle cap has the same security code and is aligned, whereas fake-oil bottles are not aligned or even have no security code at all.

QR code

However, checking the appearance of the bottle cannot ensure the product is fake. Buyers can check the security code or QR code (quick response code) on the packaging label on the back of the bottle. When scanned, the code on the original oil bottle will link to the site address ahm.to, which is the official AHM website.

KOMPAS/ADITYA DIVERANTA

The original packaging of the Ecstar Suzuki lubricant when picked up on Friday (16/9/2022).

In a number of MPX2 oils purchased at independent workshops and spare-parts shops in a number of locations, the characteristics on the packaging, such as the color of the bottle, bottle cap and bottle window, are quite identical to the official MPX2-oil product. In fact, the label sticker attached to the back of the bottle also has a QR code. However, when the QR code is scanned, it will connect to the ahmto.top page.

Also read:

> The Fake Motorcycle-Lubricant Mystery

> Engine of New Motorcycle Had to be Overhauled due to Fake Lubricant

The ahmto.top page address is almost the same as AHM's official website, namely ahm.to. If buyers do not carefully observe the page address listed, they will easily be fooled into thinking that the lubricant is genuine considering that the display on the ahmto.top site is very similar to the appearance of the official AHM website, which shows the oil product along with the product serial number.

This is a strong indication that the lubricant is fake.

For some MPX2 oil purchased at a number of workshops in West Jakarta, Tangerang and Semarang, Central Java, the QR code on the oil package links to the ahmto.top page. This is a strong indication that the lubricant is fake.

However, checking the lubricant by scanning the code on the package cannot be used as a standard benchmark, because there are several counterfeit MPX2 oils purchased at a repair shop in the Larangan area, Tangerang, on which the bottle QR code is linked to the AHM official website.

Attempts by counterfeiters to imitate the QR code of AHM oil can also be seen in fake-lube bottles as evidence of police raids, such as the case of oil counterfeiting in Semarang, which was uncovered last October. Kompas also checked three locations for fake-oil packaging and storage, namely in two buildings in North Semarang district, and one property in East Semarang district.

The labels on the AHM oil bottles at these locations were also equipped with a QR code. When the code on the oil packaging was scanned, some were found to be linked to ahm.to, the official AHM website, and some others were found to be linked to the ahmto.top page.

KOMPAS/ADITYA DIVERANTA

The SNI label appears to be attached to one of the fake oil packages that resembles the MPX2 brand from AHM, Tuesday (15/11/2022).

The QR-code labels on the fake MPX2 oil bottles, which are used as evidence from the raid by the East Bekasi Police, was also directed to ahm.to website.

Packaging renewal

PT Astra Honda Motor's internal attorney, Edward, said the design of the MPX2 oil packaging, including the QR-code technology that links to the official AHM website, is part of AHM's oil-packaging design and technology update, which was released mid-this year, so that AHM products are not easily counterfeited. The investment costs for creating packaging designs, including QR-code technology, amount to tens of billions of rupiah.

However, in just two months, the innovation was again copied by counterfeiters. "The new AHM bottles and packaging was released in May 2022, but I had already received information about counterfeiting [of the new packaging] in July 2022," said Edward.

Nevertheless, Edward said there are characteristics of fake oil that can still be identified through the packaging. Starting from the bottle cap, fake oil has a lighter color, is not tight, and has a residual glue, while the original oil packaging tends to be neat and very tight.

The characteristics of counterfeit products can also be observed from the imprecise shape of the bottle window and the bottom of the oil bottle. At the bottom of the original oil bottle there are four symbols, whereas on counterfeit oil there are only three symbols.

The Kompas team also checked the oil for automatic motorcycles from other brands, namely Yamalube from Yamaha Motor Co Ltd. Orange-bottled Yamalube lubricant was obtained from a repair shop in Tangerang city for Rp 55,000 (US$3.50). This Yamalube lub oil is suspected of being fake.

After that, the images and writing on the back of the label are not easily erased and scratched.

Based on information on the www.yamaha-motor.co.id page, Yamaha counteracts counterfeiting of their products by using in-mold label (IML) technology, in the form of stacked labels on bottles. A sign of genuine Yamalube is that the tear in the label on the front of the bottle will always be intact, not easily damaged and cannot be reattached. After that, the images and writing on the back of the label are not easily erased and scratched.

Counterfeiters imitate this technology. On the Yamalube bottle that Kompas bought, the front label was torn off and you could see a QR code on the back. When scanned, the code links to the site yamalubepromo.com, the official page for checking the authenticity of Yamalube oil. However, other characteristics showed an indication that Yamalube's lubricant was fake, namely the bottle cap was loose and very easy to turn and the shape of the design was different from the oil-bottle cap of an official-repair shop. In addition, the label on the face of the bottle can be attached again after being removed. There was a strong indication that the lubricant was fake, because it was bought from a workshop that has been proven to be selling counterfeit oils.

KOMPAS/ADITYA DIVERANTA

Counterfeit oil seller when found in Tangerang, on Wednesday (12/10/2022).

The technology applied to the fake Yamalube was also found in fake-lube containers that were raided by police in Semarang. IML technology was also copied and scanning the QR code behind the torn label directed to the yamaha-motor.co.id site. This is the official Yamaha site, but is not used to check the authenticity of the oil.

Kompas asked for confirmation from Yamaha asking about Yamalube, which was allegedly fake and purchased from a repair shop in Tangerang. Photo of oil bottle sent as support.

Yamaha Motor Co Ltd's lawyer, Purnomo Suryomurcito, acknowledged that that it was difficult for Yamaha to show whether the product was genuine or not based on a photo sent by Kompas, considering that recently fake oil bottles were well made. Yamaha has asked customers to match the characteristics of the original oil according to what the Japanese company has informed them about, one of which is related to IML technology.

He explained that the label on the fake version of the oil bottle was easy to remove, whereas the original Ecstar bottle was very sticky.

Regarding Suzuki motor lubricant, PT Suzuki Indomobil Sales' Spare Parts Department Head, Christiana Yuwantie, said that Suzuki had only received one report of counterfeiting a lubricant called Ecstar. He explained that the label on the fake version of the oil bottle was easy to remove, whereas the original Ecstar bottle was very sticky.

In addition, the characteristics of counterfeit oil include the address of the lubricant vendors are different from the official partners of Suzuki. The size of the letters on the label is also not standard and does not have a protective coating on the bottle cap (induction seal).

Difficult to differentiate

The chairman of the Indonesian Lubricants Association, Andria Nusa, acknowledged that consumers who are not used to dealing with lubricants will find it difficult to distinguish between genuine and fake lubricants. The most valid way is through laboratory tests. In fact, the cost of testing the oil ranges from Rp 6 million to Rp 12 million.

According to Andria, one of the keys to suppressing the circulation of counterfeit oil is to strengthen supervision and law enforcement.

However, such a method will be difficult to implement. As an illustration, Andria estimated that there were a total of 200,000 car and motorcycle repair shops throughout Indonesia. "Who can oversee 200,000 workshops?" he said.

KOMPAS/ADITYA DIVERANTA

Officers take a test sample from a fake oil brand at PT Surveyor Indonesia's Lubricant Test Laboratory, Sentul, Bogor, West Java, on Wednesday (9/11/2022).

The chairman of the Indonesian Lubricant Society, Tri Yuswidjajanto, said it was difficult for the public to distinguish fake oil from official oil in plain view. Moreover, the packaging design and label technology are also very similar. Genuine and fake lubricants cannot be distinguished just by looking their viscosity.

“The lubricants are falsified in all aspects, including the writing on the label, the SNI code and the QR code, which shows the manufacturer. At first glance, they are all similar,” said Tri. (ILO/JOG/DIV/FRD)

(This article was translated by Hendarsyah Tarmizi)