How to Avoid Counterfeit Components and Financial Disasters

Risky Business: Counterfeit RECOM converters cause trouble
When counterfeit converters are installed in products, the entire product line is compromised, leading to significant financial, reputational and legal risk for the manufacturer. By sourcing components only from authorized RECOM distributors, you can avoid counterfeit products. If the logo and type designation differ, verify the product authenticity to ensure you are getting the reliable quality of an original RECOM component rather than a counterfeit.

When counterfeit components are offered with the original manufacturer’s brand name and type designation, not only is the original manufacturer cheated, but the unsuspecting customer as well, as these components do not comply with the strict product specifications and certifications of authentic products. It's crucial to verify product authenticity through authorized RECOM distributors to avoid counterfeit products.

The following consequences are likely:

• Machine downtimes - caused by malfunctioning components, resulting in exponentially higher costs than the initial savings from cheap counterfeit converters.
• Reliability and legal issues - can arise when machines break due to malfunctioning components, leading to financial and legal risk.
• Endangering peopl - electrical or mechanical failure can cause harm to end users and there is no warranty to protect the manufacturer.
• Long-lasting damage to image and reputation.

It is highly recommended that you purchase RECOM products from any of our authorized RECOM distributors globally to avoid counterfeit products and associated financial and legal risks.

Select your country on this page to see which distributors sell original RECOM products:



For any other distributor, especially brokers, we do not guarantee that the products sold are original RECOM products, risking the acquisition of counterfeit converters.

In the past, counterfeit RECOM converters have been sold, sometimes repeatedly, by the following websites:

• https://www.component-de.com/page/contact-us
• https://recom-power.component-de.com/
• https://www.thomsen-elektronik.de/
• https://www.noa-labs.com/services/manufacturing/full-production-assembly
• https://www.micro-semiconductor.de/manufacturers/RECOM-Power

Additionally, the following website operators are known to sell counterfeit products:

• https://www.erai.com/erai_blog/3160/_hundreds_of_component_buyers_scammed_by_fraudulent_websites

If you doubt the authenticity of your purchased products, you can contact us and we will help to identify them:

The following is a real world example of when a counterfeit RECOM product was used within an application.

A renowned German mechanical engineering company developed a machine that required a controller board. During development, high-quality DC/DC converters with 24VDC inputs and 3.3V outputs were tested, and a RECOM DC/DC module was chosen. The machine, successfully manufactured and sold, quickly enjoyed phenomenal success. However, due to increased demand, the company needed more RECOM DC/DC converters than were available through trusted RECOM distributor.

In their search for alternate suppliers, they found a company in Asia offering the exact RECOM component they needed. This Asian company had plenty in stock and sold it at a lower price than their regular distributor. What luck! The German company ordered 500 converters, unaware of the counterfeit converters risk.

As these converters were installed and machines operated, initial complaints emerged. Service technicians had to exchange controller boards that quit service. It became clear: the error was almost always one of the counterfeit converters on the board, disrupting the entire control unit. The financial and legal risk included immense costs for support in the USA, China, and Europe, as well as consumer claims for production losses. The brand-new product suffered painful image damage.

We also had our reputation on the line. The question arose: Could a long-used converter cause a production error despite regular checks? Before the first defective converter return, HALT tests conducted in our own environmental laboratory in Gmunden on current production specimens showed no deviations. When broken parts arrived, the surprise was immense. Despite a correct RECOM logo and type designation, they appeared different, with a vertically stretched and printed logo rather than a lasered one. A bold fake!


The photo shows the original vs counterfeit RECOM REC5-243.3SRW; original on the left, counterfeit on the right. While the external differences were subtle, internally the components differed significantly. A review in the Environmental Laboratory showed the counterfeit could not obtain UL approval or meet RoHS regulations.

Internal examination revealed quality differences. On the left, the original RECOM converter with well-isolated E-core; on the right, the fake with poorly designed insulation that fell short of requirements. A component worth a few euros led to costly machine failures and service costs in a significant five-digit range—not counting the loss in reputation as a reliable manufacturer for the German company.