Couterfeiting process of Electronic parts
1) Most counterfeit parts are produced from cheaper parts by simple pin counts and printing
2) Equivalent and cross function parts are reprinted with the part number which  is in demand. ( EXAR 8038 IS PRINTED AS ICL8038 INTERSIL)
3)  Scrap from ship wrecks, old equipments, machines, old populated boards often find way in refurbishing industry.
4) Simlar copies and fakes are produced in illegal foundries which are often unreliable and has more failure rates , rejection.

Please beware that professional counterfeiters are good enough in matching data, finding cross, reprinting labels with proper bar code , tubes, reels,trays and fake packing.
They do give certain guarantee and take help of companies like ERAI to find proper marketing channel in developed and developing countries. Criminals often find some affiliation, trading platforms to boost their product image. (Just imagine a counterfeit windows xp copy also works, or a fake Omega, or Ricoh also works)
More than half of such produce sell off the counters in showrooms. The buyers who source products on foot work take those parts to their receiving country and sell them
with no guarantee and warranty. Before couple of years majority of counterfeites had no channel to globally distribute their products. Thanks to ERAI and many internet trading portals who have helped them in spreading this virus. Afterall who doesn't need share in hot billlions dollar industry.
Interestingly many ERAI members with counterfeit products are  able to command multi fold profit by taking accredition , support and protection by paying meagre amount of approximately 1000$ a year, with uncondtional and no prerequisite to join the band.

Couterfeiting of Mil-spec parts and Extended Temperature parts:

Parts with 883 ,JAN, 5962, JM38510, TD, SD, TE, HMQB, HM, extension are counterfeited by converting commercial parts by reprinting.

Commercial parts of CDIP, Metal Can, Hermetic   type are purchased or imported by counterfeiters or removed from old boards  which are converted by printing specified part number , repacked, labelled and same thing is exported to potential customer. These kind of parts pass in all kind of electrical tests. But fail only in critical industrial and hazardous applications.
Parts if subjeted to Eg. MIL-STD-810F or GJB548A tests there are likey chances they fail if tested to its full limits. Normally any broker would not test these type of parts if they pass visual inspection and electrical tests.

Another type of substandard mil spec parts however are original but taken out from old boards, scrap. Parts removed from old boards are cleaned, boiled in hot water,  polished,repacked and reprinted with uniform date code. Short pins are made long with heat process to make it look like original and new.

The counterfeit parts in the military market are often not discovered to be faulty until the part is needed in the field. Counterfeit parts have caused difficulties in Iraq, counterfeit connectors were melting in the field, or aircondirtioners didn't work. According to Fairchild’s Parmenter, the counterfeit problem will continue growing as long as it’s profitable. “It’s like the drug problem. As long as you have people willing to buy it, and the profit margin is there, there will be people willing to sell it,” he said.


Rebranding and/or repackaging of substandard or defective semiconductor units to imitate higher-qualification units that command higher prices,  inherent hazards are visible. Four major categories of counterfeited semiconductor  are classified
(1) rebranding of JAN devices to read JANTX (indicating burn-in for stabilization) or JANTXV (burn-in and U.S. manufacture);
(2) substituting and rebranding a commercial non-JAN device as supposed JAN, JANTX, or JANTXV;
(3) rebranding entirely different types of devices;
(4) passing along rebranded rejects.
 Counterfeits (1) and (2) readily escape detection and impair long-term reliability; rejects (4) and others are readily available on the market and are used legitimately in other equipments


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