Everyone wants a bargain, but when it comes to buying luxury handbags and other high-priced name brand consumer goods online the deals are usually too good to be worth it. Given the discounts offered, it is no surprise that the amount of counterfeit goods being sold approaches nearly half the legitimate volume of the genuine articles.

But what is surprising is the level of sophistication that the fraudsters will go to place their sites high on search pages and purchase pay-per-click ads, making it harder to find the real articles from the name brand vendors when shopping online.

In this edition of the Brandjacking IndexTM, we look at the abuses in the luxury consumer goods sector. It isn’t a pretty picture, despite the smooth buttery leather exterior that many of the real handbags offer. You can register and download the full report here.