Mercedes says it’s finding more counterfeit parts being sold for its vehicles, including pieces that can be deadly.

The German automaker, working with customs and law enforcement authorities to ferret out bogus parts of various kinds, helped originate raids resulting in a 49% increase in online counterfeit product listings taken down, it said.

Officials discovered and closed out more than 212,000 listings in nearly 800 raids around the world for Mercedes-branded products, said the company, which pointed out that it focuses on products that can pose danger. The findings netted 1.5 million nongenuine products.

“At first glance, they are often hard to distinguish, yet counterfeit products pose significant risks to millions of road users and cause immense economic damage,” Mercedes said in a press release on the 2024 raid results.

For example, it said fake brake components can be of inferior quality or contain hazardous material, such as lead and arsenic. Some air filters are made from flammable material.

The raids follow sometimes months-long investigations, including Mercedes’ own probes. Its “brand protectors” scour online listings, as well as pursue tips, tracking down counterfeiters’ operations. It said they’ve lately found more fake versions of the automaker’s most premium products, including for the Mercedes Maybach and the AMG performance car, even to the extreme of making entire vehicles.

It warned consumers to watch for telltale signs of counterfeits, including unusually low prices, quality defects, or unfamiliar sellers.

“Sometimes, you can already tell from the product images or names that they cannot be originals, especially if Mercedes-Benz does not manufacture these products,” the company said.

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