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“Fake alcohol” or “Counterfeit alcohol,” search any of the two keywords, and your browser will be swamped with the news and information about counterfeit alcohol. Each day, people are accidentally consuming fake liquor and endangering their health. This problem has become so widespread that many people have lost their lives after ingesting spurious alcohol. Fake alcohol has become a deadly problem for tourists traveling abroad. 

Check online if the liquor you bought is authentic. 

The increasing demand for imported alcohol has made it easier for bootleggers to profit rapidly by offering counterfeit booze in genuine bottles. While you might be paying for a Grey Goose or Van Gogh, there’s a good chance that your local distributor will offer you some cheap whisky in a stylish bottle. Most individuals find it quite challenging to distinguish between real and fake alcohol simply by looking at the store. Additionally, some cunning bootleggers even blend other types of alcohol to simulate the authentic flavor. 

Having said that, you can check the authenticity of the alcohol you have purchased on a specific government website. Using a barcode or serial number, the online service provided by many state governments’ excise departments confirms the authenticity of alcohol bought from retail outlets.

Verify the bottle’s cap is tightly secured. 

Before purchasing a bottle, pay close attention to the cap. The bottle has already been opened if there is a space between the seal ring and the bottle cap. Even if the alcohol is authentic, it might have been altered in some other way or diluted. 

Check the manufacturing and expiration dates 

The terrifying aspect of fake vodka is how dealers would purchase actual, empty bottles back from bars and clubs and then fill them with the illegal substance! It’s probably a recycled bottle if the date seems excessively old. 

Check the expiration date on the bottle to be sure you aren’t consuming phony booze or, at the very least, expired alcohol. Typically, they are printed on the cap, although some could also be on the stickers. 

Real vodka doesn’t contain sediment. 

Real vodka has no particles floating in it or residue at the bottom of the bottle; it is obvious. If there are any little particles floating in a bottle, tap water has likely been used to dilute the alcohol. It’s possible that the sediment at the bottom is a byproduct of the procedure used to make counterfeit vodka, but it shouldn’t be there. 

Examine the packaging closely 

Check if there are bumps on the boxes and whether it has a shiny sheen. Beware if the packaging looks dull and looks like a normally printed sticker. Because genuine branded alcohol bottles would be tastefully and meticulously adorned, the neatness of their packaging and stickers should also be considered. Contrarily, fake bottles would be carelessly adorned. Even the various fonts used might occasionally reveal it. 

But don’t worry if you see these gleaming gold fonts on G.H. Mumm’s best-selling bottle when you’re looking for some celebratory champagne; this one is quite real. 

Check the label for spelling errors. 

Criminal gangs do not tend to employ proof editors, and mistakes on labels are more common than you might think. Examine the text on the packaging. Check for grammatical errors, misspellings, poorly laid out information, etc. Real packaging should ideally be grammatically correct. Spelling or grammar mistakes can indicate the mark of a counterfeit.

Avoid purchasing alcohol under the counter 

Dodgy shops might offer you booze from ‘ under the counter ’ at a discount. The risk of buying counterfeit products is much higher in these secret deals: they are not subject to trading standards checks, and the person you are dealing with is okay with breaking the law to make a few quid on the side 

Do an online search for cheap brands you’ve never heard of The majority of counterfeiters attempt to imitate well-known brands like Glen’s or Smirnoff, but occasionally they may simply create one. You can use your phone to look up inexpensive brands you’ve never heard of to ensure there isn’t a warning about them.

Check it has a proper ‘duty paid’ sticker 

This is how a legitimate “duty paid” sticker appears. Some people copy them, but if a bottle is missing, it’s probably being sold illegally. 

Beware of fake bar codes. 

Although most counterfeit vodka bottles feature bar codes to make them appear genuine, they might not be properly registered. To check whether a bar code is authentic or not, download a bar-code scanner app on your phone. 

Don’t drink it if it smells like nail paint. 

Even the cheapest vodka shouldn’t have a strong nail polish aroma. The distinctive scent of nail cosmetics is caused by a different ingredient that shouldn’t be present in vodka. Don’t drink a bottle if you open it and it smells like nail polish. A perfect fake could be indistinguishable from a real bottle of vodka, but if you don’t break any of these rules, you should be okay.