Susie Winter of the AAIPT recently attended the Trading Standards Institute launch of National e-Consumer week, where the danger of buying fakes online was highlighted.
Susie reports that the TSI recently conducted a survey of visitors to their own website and found that:
- Out of the 73% of people who are concerned about shopping online 6% are concerned the item will be fake
- However, out of the 28% who said they had problems shopping online 19% said the item when it arrived was fake (48% said the item never arrived)
- When asked what they would do if they had a problem 10% said they would take it on the chin and avoid using the same website
Calls to Consumer Direct on counterfeits went up 43% from Aug 08-09 to Aug 09-10
- Aug 08-09 1,958 calls
- Aug 09-10 2,801 calls
The number of fakes seized by the UK Border Agency has increased more than four-fold over the past decade
- 2000 – 857,772
- 2010 – 3,707,940
IP Minister Baroness Wilcox said, “Fake goods can pose a serious risk to health and safety. Poor quality electrical goods can cause fires and electrocution. Just this month a teenager was badly burnt after buying seemingly genuine hair straighteners.”
