That the internet is full of scoundrels willing to take your hard-earned money in exchange for bunk goods if you let your guard down for even a moment is, at this point, no surprise. But it’s still surprising that a huge proportion of spark plugs -- simple, innocent little spark plugs! -- sold online are apparently bogus.

According to a report from Australia’s Federal Chamber of Automotive Industry’s Genuine is Best initiative (via Carscoops), 60 percent of name-brand spark plugs purchased online are actually knock-offs of name-brand products. These plugs, if they work at all, may not last as long as the genuine articles, could hinder your car’s performance and might even lead to real mechanical damage.

Given its the report’s Australian focus, it’s hard to say what proportion of spark plugs purchased online in the United States might be dupes. Yet this problem is so real and persistent that NGK, a manufacturer that seems to be a frequent target of counterfeiters, has put out a guide to spotting fakes.

Further, there are a number of videos out there that will help you identify fake plugs, like the one embedded below -- it’s an interesting look at just how convincing the fakes can be.

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When you think about it, the scheme makes a certain amount of sense: Primo plugs can easily retail for over $10 a pop, many times more than what bottom-shelf products cost, so there’s a substantial margin to be realized by unscrupulous suppliers. Short of making sure the things actually spark, and then reading them after running the engine for a while, there’s no easy way to verify that plugs are operating to spec.

In fact, the Australian report suggests that cutting plugs in half is the easiest way to tell if they’re shoddily constructed; even then it can be tough to tell real from counterfeit. In practice, you might not be able to tell something is wrong until your car begins running poorly, or not at all.

So to the novice wrench, maybe someone just setting out in the world of at-home car repairs and trying to tackle an easy bit of maintenance themselves, fakes could easily slip by -- especially if logos and other identifying marks are copied.

But even more experienced mechanics could be taken in if they’re not on the lookout. Aside from making sure the electrode was in good repair and checking the gap, how closely did you examine the last set of new plugs you purchased? I certainly wasn’t checking for perfectly aligned logos…

If you’re determined to shop online, the best way to avoid being had by knock-off plugs is to buy from authorized, established sellers; that way, even if something does go wrong, you’ll at least have a better shot at recourse. If buying from a site like Amazon, check to make sure you’re not actually buying from a shady associated seller using the platform.

And -- this goes without saying, but it tends to go out the window when we’re facing down a big parts bill -- if a deal seems too good to be true, it probably is.

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