Recently there has been sold counterfeit ICOM IC-V8 radio transceivers on e-bay by an individual in Hong Kong. These are difficult to distinguish from the genuine ones, but there is one giveaway. Key no.2 on the alphanumeric keypad has the digit -2- and the letters -P.BEEP- printed on it if it's a genuine ICOM, the counterfeit has the digit -2- and the letters -VOX- printed on it.

I bought one of these, and upon comparison with a genuine IC-V8 it was easy to spot the differences. They are as follows, but not necessarily limited to:

Upon powering up, -icom- does not flash in the display as with the genuine IV-V8.
Display numbers and icons are different.
Menus work differently.
The manual is of a different size and contains a lot less and different info.
The 7.2 v -1100 mAh rechargeable battery pack is marked BP-208 in stead of BP-209. The optional BP-208 is actyally for AA dry cell batteries.
The antenna is shorter and slightly different looking.
One of the keypad buttons is differently marked, key no. 2 says -vox- in stead of  -p.beep- .
The desktop charger is smaller and has a different size/outline than a genuine one.
The power adaptor is different and potentially dangerous.(220V version)
The rotary selector does not fully rotate, as it has end stops.
The radio powers up immediately when the battery pack is installed, without pushing the power button .
The rubber cover for the speaker/mic is different, -Opt- and -Sp/Mic- is marked on the radio chassis rather than on the rubber cover.
The radios are most likely Jiangnan FB-368s and are not FCC approved.

Buyers beware!