Authors: Assistant Professor B.Naresh, K. Pravalika
Abstract: The increasing circulation of counterfeit products has become a major challenge for manufacturers, retailers, regulatory authorities, and consumers worldwide. Counterfeit goods not only cause significant financial losses and damage brand reputation but also introduce serious risks to consumer health and safety. Conventional product authentication techniques, including serial numbers, holograms, and barcode-based verification, are increasingly vulnerable to duplication and tampering due to advancements in counterfeiting technologies. Consequently, there is a growing demand for secure, transparent, and tamper-resistant authentication mechanisms capable of ensuring product authenticity throughout the supply chain. The emergence of blockchain technology provides a decentralized and immutable infrastructure that enables trusted product traceability while preventing unauthorized modifications to product information. Combined with Quick Response (QR) codes, blockchain offers an efficient solution for real-time product verification and counterfeit detection. This study proposes a secure blockchain-based framework for counterfeit product detection and authentication using QR code verification. The proposed system enables manufacturers to register product information on a blockchain network, where each product is assigned a unique digital identity through smart contracts. A corresponding QR code is generated and attached to the product, allowing consumers to verify authenticity by simply scanning the code using a mobile device. During verification, the scanned information is compared with the immutable blockchain records to determine whether the product is genuine or counterfeit. In addition to product authentication, the framework incorporates customer reviews and ratings to assist administrators in identifying suspicious products and monitoring fraudulent activities. The decentralized architecture ensures transparency, traceability, and data integrity across every stage of the product lifecycle while reducing opportunities for counterfeit manipulation. The proposed framework is validated by comparing its computational performance with existing anti-counterfeiting approaches, including LWEM, Blowfish, AES, and RSA. Experimental evaluation demonstrates that the proposed blockchain-based solution achieves lower overall processing time while maintaining secure and reliable product authentication. The integration of blockchain, smart contracts, and QR code verification significantly improves counterfeit detection efficiency and enhances consumer confidence by providing a transparent mechanism for verifying product authenticity. The proposed framework offers a scalable and practical solution for securing supply chains, protecting brand integrity, and strengthening trust between manufacturers, retailers, and consumers in modern digital commerce.
