Press releases
7 June 2006
Watch Out for Football Fakes
As World Cup fever gathers pace so does the availability of fake football merchandise. Consumer Direct East of England is warning local people to watch out for fake FIFA World Cup goods this summer.
Counterfeiters are cashing in on the must-have items for this summer by producing cheap FIFA World Cup and FA England team imitations to sell to unsuspecting fans.
Fans might think they are getting a bargain when they see FIFA World Cup and FA England team merchandise at knock-down prices but it's not just the clubs that lose out to the fakers - the people buying them do too. They are likely to be buying poor quality goods.
In the last year Consumer Direct East of England has received almost 400 calls about problems with counterfeit products and the Anti-Counterfeiting Group estimate that the black market in fake goods and piracy is worth over £10 billion a year in the UK.
Mike Hill from Consumer Direct East of England said: 'Buyers should take great care as fake items appear to be bargains but are often very poor quality. People should be suspicious of clothing with no labels, poor quality printing or embroidery of logos especially if buying at car boot sales, street markets or over the internet.'
Think before buying counterfeit merchandise:
- The goods may be lower quality than the real thing - or even dangerous.
- A lot of fake goods fund drug dealers and other organised crime.
- You may end up paying higher taxes because people who deal in fakes don't - consumers like you end up making up the difference.
- You may be putting local people out of jobs because genuine retailers and manufacturers can't compete with the criminals making and selling fakes.
- If you buy fake goods and they don't live up to your expectations, you won't get any after sales service or guarantees.
- Fake goods deprive the copyright owner of money that can be used to fund new development.
Follow Consumer Direct's top five tips to avoid buying fakes:
- Be suspicious about bargains. If something seems too good to be true, it probably is!
- Find out if you have any guarantees or after-sales service.
- Examine the quality of the goods.
- Check labels and packaging for misspellings and poor quality logos.
- Take extra care at street markets, car boot sales, pubs, on the internet, or in other situations where it may be more difficult to get in touch with the trader after the purchase.
If you need advice about anything you've bought or think somebody is selling fake goods, please call Consumer Direct on 08454 04 05 06 or visit www.consumerdirect.gov.uk.
