Valentine’s Day online shoppers should beware of the risks associated with gifts from counterfeit websites, say detectives from the Police Intellectual Property Crime Unit (PIPCU) at the City of London Police. PIPCU oversaw the disruption of 2,200 counterfeit websites in 2015.
With gifts such as jewellery, handbags, fragrances and sportswear being purchased online, officers are reminding consumers to take simple steps to help them identify counterfeit websites. Detectives are also warning about the consequences of providing personal details to online criminals who then use them to commit fraud such as registering counterfeit websites.
You can identify counterfeit websites by making simple checks. Some of them include the spelling, grammar, quality of the images and inconsistent fonts used.
Since PIPCU’s launch in September 2013, it has secured the suspension of about 8000 counterfeit websites. Officers have also identified about 1000 victims of identity theft from these sites, all of whom have been contacted by officers and been offered online safety advice.
In 2015 officers from PIPCU established that one victim had purchased goods from a counterfeit website. He then had his identity used by online criminals to create a further 354 counterfeit websites in a 12-month period. Officers suspended all the sites and immediately informed the victim that their details had been used. The victim had been unaware of this until the police made contact with him.
PIPCU also work with manufacturers, brand guardians, partner agencies and governmental departments to identify counterfeit websites. Action is then taken to suspend counterfeit websites by working closely with Nominet, the UK’s central registry for all .uk domains once it is established that the websites are in breach of the Copyright and Tradesmark Act.
The head of PIPCU, Detective Chief Inspector Peter Ratcliffe, said: “If you’re buying a special gift for your Valentine this week, make sure you are not being fooled into an offer which is too good to be true appearing on a counterfeit website. We urge consumers to use our guidance to prevent them from ending up with an unwanted fake gift, and the risk of becoming a victim of identity theft.”
The Minister for intellectual property Baroness Neville-Rolfe said: “It is a sad truth that criminals will always try to exploit consumers on special occasions such as Valentine’s Day. I am pleased that PIPCU is alerting shoppers to this deception and highlighting the serious risks that come with buying fake goods.
“I have repeatedly warned counterfeit traders that this Government will not tolerate IP crime that harms consumers and business alike. We will continue to work with PIPCU and our partners in law enforcement to track down IP thieves, seize their illicit goods, and prosecute those responsible for deceiving the public.”
How to identify a counterfeit website:
Check for grammatical errors and spelling mistakes.
Check images – Usually on counterfeit web pages they will fail to load or take a time to resolve.
Images on counterfeit sites will have been copied and are usually edited to fit into certain website templates. Therefore pictures may not look proportionate or have high resolution as they have been stretched or reedited.
Check the consistency of the fonts appearing throughout the website – on a counterfeit site they may not be all the same and will not have a professional finish.
Be aware that hyperlinks to associated content on a counterfeit website will fail to work – they are just cosmetic.
Counterfeit websites sometimes use security authentication to show give the illicit website and “air of authenticity.”
Be wary of the cost of counterfeit goods – Prices will be substantially cheaper that the original, with 50-80% discounts.
Counterfeit sites may claim to be official online outlet stores – Many websites claim that they have heavily discounted prices as they are outlets associated with the relevant retail brand or service. It is worth noting that many luxury brands do not have outlet stores online and that prices will be sold without substantial mark down prices.
