Read this today and thought it was interesting:

"YOU ARE VICTIM OF A FRAUD"

The problem of counterfeit Havana cigars dates back to at least 1850. That’s when Gustave Bock decided to put an identifying band on all of his Bock & Co. cigars to separate them from fakes sold by others.

Habanos S.A., the worldwide distribution firm for cigars exported from Havana, has taken more and more steps to make sure that smokers are buying genuine Cuban cigars and have now quietly introduced an important, real-time guard against the sales of counterfeit boxes: the Habanos “Authenticity Check.”

This online program is simple to use, but works only on newly-shipped Habanos which have the new Cuban warranty seal, introduced in March. In addition to now-standard features such as a self-destructing seal, holography, micro-dot printing and optical variations known only to those training in Habanos security code recognition, a bar code was added to the seals attached to all boxes, displays and cabinets, but not to carton packs.

The bar codes are of two different types: one with five characters on one side and seven on the other (12 total) and the second with six characters on each side (also 12 total). These code characters are the key to the Authenticity Check.

-Cigarcyclopedia