Counterfeit tech carries significantly higher consequences than a fake Rolex or a hastily copied handbag. Hapless individuals and business owners can find themselves stuck with tens of thousands of dollars of useless fakes pawned off as the real thing. A phony app masquerading as the real deal can infect your business's devices with malware, opening the door for even more damage. And at the very worst, counterfeit products have been implicated in serious injuries and even deaths, such as when poorly made fake power adapters electrocuted several iPhone users.As counterfeits grow increasingly sophisticated--and increasingly brazen--it's harder for even sharp-eyed buyers to differentiate an authentic product from a fake. Here's how to tell a legitimate product from a phony one, in five of today's most susceptible market segments.Smartphones and tablets
