Telltale Signs of Counterfeit Electronic Components

Counterfeit components are a persistent risk for companies that work with parts brokers or resellers. Reputable brokers do their best to only supply genuine, working parts, but sometimes fakes slip through the cracks and make their way onto an SMT line. Counterfeit components come in many forms, and it takes experience to spot counterfeit parts. Spotting counterfeits before they get added to a parts kit also takes some testing.

Supply chain challenges over the last few years have added new impetus towards counterfeiting and reselling. For some parts, you may not have any choice but to go to an overseas broker, which increases the risk of procuring counterfeits. To help reduce risk of product failures and continued business with unscrupulous brokers, we created this guide to help you identify counterfeits.

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The Real Meaning of “Counterfeit”

A lot of PCB design guides imply that counterfeit parts constitute outright fakes, where everything from the packaging to the lead arrangement is a forgery. The reality is that most parts are not fake in this way. Counterfeiting often takes a different form, and phony parts have to be identified through careful inspection and testing. Some tests are simple enough that PCB assembly houses could perform these on their own, while others require some specialized equipment and analysis to spot fake components.

Here are some of the ways parts can be counterfeited:

On the Surface

Because many instances of counterfeiting do not involve outright forgery, there will instead be an attempt to intentionally misrepresent the parts being supplied. The misrepresentation being committed can become obvious just by looking at the case and packaging. Some of the methods being used to counterfeit components include:

• Intentional mislabeling of an incorrect MPN
• Illegible labeling or no labeling
• Damaged encapsulation
• Supplying a defective part that is the correct MPN
• Supplying the wrong MPN, but correct package
• Supplying correct MPN, but in a lower-cost package
• Supplying correct MPN, but in a lower-capability variant
• Supplying used components (taken from another assembly)

For several of these points, a simple visual inspection of the component case and markings can identify the most obvious attempted forgeries. In the case of used components or relabeled components, a chemical test may be needed to identify a fake part. For example, used components could contain some flux residue or leftover solder.

There are other measures counterfeiters will take that occur inside the package. This is typical of ICs and larger-case passives, both of which carry a higher price tag than small-case SMD passives. For expensive integrated circuits, like large FPGAs, there is significant incentive to counterfeit these parts in some way.

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Looking Beneath the Surface

In some cases, components could be faked internally. If components pass visual inspection and basic chemical inspections, it may be worth looking internally to see if the component has been faked. Some of the measures counterfeiters will take to fake components include:

• Removing a die from a package
• Using the wrong die in a package
• Shipping a part with a defective die but that appears intact externally
• Use of leaded components when lead-free parts were requested

Sometimes, packaging forgery can go to a new level and involves packaging a lower-quality component in a larger case. There is one well-known picture involving radial through-hole capacitors, where a larger capacitor case was used to enclose a smaller capacitor. Larger parts like the capacitors shown above are more expensive, so there is more incentive to fake these with a lower-cost part.

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Identifying any of these counterfeiting problems may involve destroying the component (opening cases or decapsulation). More advanced methods may be needed to successfully inspect and verify that a received component is genuine.

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How to Identify Counterfeit Components

As was mentioned above, there is a range of tests that can be performed to identify fake components. Some tests are simple enough to perform by hand, and they only require inexpensive chemicals that can be purchased from any supplier. Even something as simple as inspecting the packaging before loading parts into a pick-and-place tape could allow you to spot a component. Some checks that can help spot the more obvious fakes include:

• Inspecting labels on packaging and component cases
• Testing ink on component cases
• Checking case/package size and lead counts against a known good sample
• Quick tests with a meter (LCR, multimeter, etc.)

More specialized inspection requires looking beneath the surface. Approaches include decapsulation (destructive inspection), X-ray inspection, chemical inspection, and power-on inspection with a test circuit. The consequences of missing a counterfeit component could range from minor annoyance to early failure of a system, so consider what kind of testing regime would be needed for your components.

Cofactr is a supply chain management platform used by electronic hardware teams and procurement professionals to quote, purchase, manage inventory, and manage logistics for their electronic components. As part of our inventory management platform and warehousing service, we also perform inspection and testing of components as they enter our facility. We take every effort to identify counterfeit components before they are included in your PCBA.