how do you say "you got snookered" in russian? is that sand, or some kind of ceramic dust?
a few years back, i was in a discussion about counterfeit parts, and the question came up "besides money, what other possible motivation is there for counterfeiting parts?" one of the hypothetical answers was "economic warfare". suppose for a moment that a particular country (Alphastan) might want to weaken the economy of their neighboring country(Bravolia). Bravolia's largest industry produces power transistors, and nets $100B per year, of which Bravolia uses $20B for military spending. Alphastan wants to invade Bravolia and take over their lucrative manufacturing venture, but Alphastan's economy is in the toilet, and their military hardware consists of aging hand-me-downs from the Cold War. Alphastan does have $2B to spend in their limited budget for covert operations against Bravolia. Alphastan finds a parts broker in Malaysia that has 10 billion power transistors available for less than a penny each, that look similar to Bravolia's lucrative product, but are factory seconds from a fab in Malaysia. so, Alphastan buys the parts, and opens a factory that shaves off the Malaysian part number, and prints the Bravolian part number and fab logo on the parts. after all of the parts have been processed, Alphastan contacts parts brokers in the far east, offering to sell the transistors for 90% of the going price Bravolia charges. Some of the brokers can't resist the discount and buy up all of Alphastan's stock, and sell them to importers for the same price as the genuine Bravolian parts. now there is a glut in the market, which forces Bravolia to reduce their price, and things are not going to get better for Bravolia... as the counterfeit parts hit the market, and begin getting used in the manufacture of various electronic devices, the counterfeits begin failing in large numbers. most users of the parts begin distrusting Bravolian semiconductors, and look elsewhere for parts that are reliable. Bravolian semiconductor sales drop to a trickle, and now Bravolia's primary export has very few buyers, and their profits drop from $100B, to $10B or less. the Bravolian economy soon tanks, and many businesses inside the country begin to fail. meanwhile Alphastan has netted $90B, and can spend most of that on military hardware, as well as temporarily relieving their poor economy. Alphastan won't need to do another parts counterfeiting coup, because, before their windfall peters out, they will invade Bravolia, and take over Bravolia's manufacturing base.
i realize the scenario is a gross oversimplification of how economic warfare works, but the basic elements are in there....