Fake Product Identification Using Blockchain

Abstract

One of the greatest challenges in today\'s retail market is the counterfeiting of products. Counterfeiting Products are merely low-quality counterfeits of a certain brand. Over time, many different methods have been adopted to prevent the proliferation of counterfeitproductssuchasRFIDtags,Artificial intelligence, machine learning, QR codebase system, and many more. Nevertheless, the disadvantages of such methods aresevere, e.g., QR codes that may be copied from real products to fake ones, and artificial intelligence and machine learning must have high computational power for carrying out operations; however, a large number of other techniques currently exist but this method was not developed. We\'ve tried to improve it in this project. With the help of the blockchain, detection of counterfeit products technology. The way we do it is to store the supply chain. Products at all stages of the product\'s transaction with a new party with the help of a QR code. Blockchain helps us to store the supply chain of goods as a blockchain system makes a decentralized system and one of the main advantages of blockchain is that if the data is recorded in the system, then nobody can change it at any cost so it makes our data more Secure and guarded against third parties.

Introduction

Counterfeiting poses significant risks to products, harming brand reputation, revenue, and customer trust throughout the supply chain. Blockchain technology is proposed as a powerful solution to combat counterfeit goods by providing a decentralized, immutable ledger that tracks the product history from manufacture to consumer. Blockchain’s key features include security, decentralization, transparency, accuracy, cost reduction, and efficient transactions.

Blockchain Overview:
Blockchain is a decentralized distributed ledger that records transactions in linked blocks, making data tamper-proof and secure. Transactions are validated by miners, grouped into blocks, and added sequentially, creating a permanent record. Ethereum is a major blockchain platform enabling smart contracts and decentralized apps, using the Solidity programming language.

Counterfeiting and Blockchain’s Role:
Counterfeit products are fake copies made to deceive customers and profit illegally. Blockchain helps verify product authenticity by maintaining a secure, transparent record of a product’s supply chain history. Customers can scan QR codes to access this information and verify product genuineness.

Technical Components:

• SHA-256: Cryptographic hashing algorithm ensuring data integrity.

• MetaMask: Wallet and interface for interacting with Ethereum-based decentralized applications.

• Solidity: Programming language for writing Ethereum smart contracts.

• Ganache: Local Ethereum blockchain for testing and development.

Proposed Anti-Counterfeit System:
A decentralized application (DApp) on Ethereum enables manufacturers, suppliers, and customers to log and verify product details using blockchain and QR codes. Manufacturers add product data to the blockchain, suppliers update the supply chain info, and customers verify authenticity by scanning the QR code. If inconsistencies appear, it indicates counterfeiting.

Benefits of Blockchain in Anti-Counterfeiting:

• Immutable records prevent tampering.

• Transparency increases trust.

• Decentralization reduces hacking risk.

• Eliminates intermediaries, cutting costs.

• Enables efficient, real-time verification.

Literature and Algorithm Surveys:
The document reviews various blockchain-based anti-counterfeit systems, their limitations (such as cost, scalability, privacy), and key algorithms like SHA-256, Proof of Work, and Proof of Stake, noting their trade-offs in security and efficiency.

Industry Examples:
Organizations like RealItems Foundation and IBM have developed blockchain solutions for product verification and supply chain tracking, utilizing smart contracts and cryptographic algorithms.

Conclusion

Usingblockchain,manufacturerscancreateauniqueandimmutabledigitalidentityforeachproduct,enablingthetraceability andverification ofproductinformation throughout the supply chain. This allows consumers to easily verify the authenticityof a product, reducing the risk of purchasing counterfeit or fake products. Manufacturers andSuppliers canusethesystemtostore productdetails inBlockchainwhich offers certainpropertiessuchas securityandprivacyofthedataonthenetwork.Thecustomerviewsthegood\'ssupplychainhistoryandverifiesifthegoods are genuine. Customers can be sure about the integrity of the goods they purchase. This system helps to lower the rate of counterfeiting and boost the economy. Further system can be extended to avoid frauds done in healthcare, voting system, online shopping, banking, and so on. Moreover, these real-time systems can enable the creation of decentralized marketplaces that prioritize authenticity and transparency, reducing the risk of fraud and counterfeiting in online transactions.

References

[1] G. Vidhya Lakshmi, Subbarao Gogulamudi, Bodapati Nagaeswari, Shaik Reehana, “Blockchain Based Inventory Management by QR Code Using Open CV”, International Conference on Computer Communication and Informatics (ICCCI -2021) Coimbatore, INDIA, Jan. 27 – 29, 2021. [2] Abhinav Sanghi, Aayush, Ashutosh Kata war, Anshul Arora, Aditya Kaushik, “Detecting Fake Drugs using Blockchain”, International Journal of Recent Technology and Engineering (IJRTE) ISSN: 2277-3878, Volume-10 Issue-1, May 2021. [3] Miguel A. Prada-Delgado, Gero Dittmann, Ilie Circular, Jens Jelte “A blockchain- based crypto-anchor platform for interoperable product authentication”, EEE International Symposium on Circuits and Systems (ISCAS),2021. [4] Mrs. S. Thejaswini, Ranjitha K R, “Blockchain in Agriculture by using Decentralized Peer to Peer Networks”, Proceedings of the Fourth International Conference on Inventive Systems and Control (ICISC 2020),2020. [5] Jinhua Ma, Shih-Ya Lin, Xin Chen, Hung-Min Sun, Yeh-Cheng Chen, and Hoaxing Wang, “A Blockchain-Based Application System for Product Anti- Counterfeiting”, IEEE Access,2020. [6] Veneta Alekseeva, Hristo Volchenkov and Anton Huxleyan, “Implementation of Smart- Contract, Based on Hyperledger Fabric Blockchain”, International Symposium on Electrical Apparatus & Technologies (SIELA) - Bourgas, Bulgaria,2020 [7] Ajay Kumar Shrestha, Julita Vasilieva “Bitcoin Blockchain Transactions Visualization” University of Saskatchewan Saskatoon, Canada, 2020. [8] Vinayak Singla, Indra Kumar Malav, Jaspreet Kaur and Sumit Kalra, “Develop Leave Application using Blockchain Smart Contract”, 11th international conference on Communication Systems and Networks,2019. [9] Jesus Maximo Montes, Cecilia E. Ramirez, Manuel Coronado Gutierrez, Victor M. Larios, “Smart Contracts for supply chain applicable to Smart Cities daily operations”5th IEEE International Smart Cities Conference (ISC2 2019), 2019. [10] Sanjay K. S, Dr. Ajit Danti “Detection of fake opinions on online products using Decision Tree and Information Gain” Third International Conference on Computing Methodologies and Communication (ICCMC 2019),2019. [11] ASPA, The state of counterfeiting in India 2021, https: / / www.aspaglobal.com / Reupload / nation /1623216858-4730baa0efdb83aba174859af0a3a6a5-Report The State of Counterfeiting in India 2021.pdf (2021) [12] Y. Lu, Journal of Management Analytics 5, 1 (2018) [13] F. Casino, T.K. Danakil’s, Pataki’s, Telematics Informatics 36, 55 (2019) [14] M. Peck, IEEE Spectrum 54, 26 (2017) [15] S. Idrees, M. Newshawks, R. Jameel, A. Mourya, Electronics 10, 951 (2021) [16] Pignuts Techno lab, how blockchain architecture works? basic understanding of blockchain and its architecture., https: / / www.zignuts.com / blogs/ how - blockchain - architecture - works - basic - understanding- of- blockchain- and-its- architecture/ (2022) [17] J. Ma, S.Y. Lin, X. Chen, H.M. Sun, Y.C. Chen, H. Wang, IEEE Access 8, 77642 (2020) [18] M.J.L.I.N.M. J.M. Bohli, N. Juschka, IEEE 10, 9 (2013) [19] C. Shaik, Computer Science & Engineering: An International Journal (CSEIJ) 11 (2021) [20] M.A. Benattia, D. Baudry, A. Louis, Journal of Ambient Intelligence and Humanized Computing pp. 1–10 (2020) [21] S. Chen, R. Shi, Z. Ren, J. Yan, Y. Shi, J. Zhang, A blockchain-based supply chain quality management framework, in 2017 IEEE 14th International Conference on e-Business Engineering (ICEBE) (IEEE, 2017), pp. 172–176

Copyright

Copyright © 2025 Rishabh Singh, Shivam Dubey, Rishabh Jaiswal, Mohammad Arsad, Mr. Abhishek Shahi. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.