Real Deal: Designer Difference

Shopper
"They are really expensive."

Louis Vuitton? Or Loser?

Shopper
"It’s completely real."

Do you have a clear eye for the purse buy? A bogus Burberry? A suspicious Kate Spade? If you can't tell, that's just what counterfeiters are counting on.

Atty. Mark Schonfeld, Burns & Levinson LLP
"Counterfeiting is estimated to be a worldwide industry in excess of $200 billion."

Of course you know high-end stores sell the high-priced real thing and street vendors, like this one we caught on hidden camera in government center, sell the often obvious, cheap copies.

Hank Phillippi Ryan, Investigative Reporter
"Have you ever seen an authentic bag at one of those stands?"

Lt. Salvatore Venturelli, MBTA Police
"No."

But how about those tiny stores where they bring out the bags from under the counter? Those "authentic" bags listed online? Or the ones our undercover camera reveals are stacked in suburban closets and sold at the purse equivalent of Tupperware parties?

Here's the Real Deal, there are ways to identify the real thing. Manufacturers create whole books of trade secret specs. From size to the centimeter, to stitch count, to placement of labels, even to what's on the hardware that hold the bags together.

This woman is a Prada PI. She shops undercover to sniff out the pseudos, even carrying authentic fabric swatches to match to suspect bags.

Hank Phillippi Ryan, Investigative Reporter
"Are there secret ways you can tell?"

Prada PI
"We are being trained constantly by the trademark owners to identify the counterfeits."

Here's a bag we bought from a purse party. It looks like a Burberry, but why it’s bogus is all in the plaid. This real Burberry has white stipes going both ways, now you can see the fake is completely different, the horizontal stripes are tan.

This is a street vendor Prada. You might have heard a sewn on label means it’s authentic and this one's sewn, right?

Wrong. The PI just gives a yank and the fake triangle comes right off.

Hank Phillippi Ryan, Investigative Reporter
"If you can rip off this medallion do you know its counterfeit?"

Prada PI
"It would be one of the key things to look for absolutely."

Attorney Mark Schonfeld fights trademark battles for biggest handbag makers.

He says purse parties and street vendors will not have the real thing.

Mark Schonfeld
"The general rule is that these are not authentic bags."

Problem is, he says, computer-assisted copies can be pretty darn good. But secret designer touches may make a fake too expensive and that can help you weed out the phonies.

Look at this pretty convincing purse party Kate Spade fake, sewn on label and all.

But look right here on the inside pocket: nothing. A real Kate Spade will always have a sewn in label on that pocket, including the country of origin.

The real thing won't have ratty low quality stuffing, especially not newspaper from Asia. It will have distinctively printed outside packaging and labels, more elaborate than an easy to duplicate dust bag.

Uneven stitching? Fake. Plastic tag? Fake. Ratty label? Fake.

Experts warned the Web is notorious for selling fakes, no matter what the promise, you can't actually examine the bag before you pay for it. This tote bag, listed as "authentic", costs $325 on line, that's one third the retail price.

Counterfeit? Our two experts couldn't decide. We finally shipped it to the company. They deemed it a fabulous fake, though they wouldn't reveal how they knew.

Mark Schonfeld
"The manufacturer can always tell."

And so you know, it's a state and federal offense to manufacture and sell these things and law enforcement says profits are linked to gangs and organized crime.

Lt. Salvatore Venturelli, MBTA Police
"They're breaking the law they're not paying tax revenue and they're inferior products."

Every high-end company will be happy to help you authenticate a questionable bag, some will even go online with you to check them out.