How to identify counterfeit Shimano parts? I bought a pair of Shimano brifters from eBay, brand new.  They have a few bumps and marks on the plastic and metal parts that look like poor quality manufacturing to me.  Can anyone tell from these photos whether these are legit?  The model is Acera ST-EF65.

My tinfoil hat is on because they shipped from China, brand new without original packaging.

I was thinking maybe a good test is to dip the cables in water for a few hours and see if they rust.  To see if they are truly stainless.

Update:  While installing this, I noticed it does not have a hole to adjust brake pull between V or caliper style.  The dealer manual says it should have this.  Hmm...
If you are really interested you could contact Shimano directly, say that you bought them, that they do not have adjusting hole, and that you suspect they may be counterfeit, and if they could advise you how to check it. I suppose they would be happy to help you out since it is in their interest to find and fight counterfeits.  

But you could be looking at the wrong instructions (like year of production). Parts could have originated from some new bike, that was upgraded in the shop with some higher spec parts, and originals got sold this way.