ALARMING RISE IN COUNTERFEITING OF BEAUTY PRODUCTS

The Police Intellectual Property Crime Unit (PIPCU) has launched latest campaign “Wake Up – Don’t Fake Up” to raise awareness of the health risks from using fake personal care products.  London Police which estimates nearly 90 million Pounds spending by consumers every year on fake skin care products, reports rising cases of counterfeiting, which is blamed on growing online market suppliers through social media campaigns which, it claims, are quite difficult to monitor and check.

In the past 18 months, PIPCU has managed to protect consumers from being ripped off online by suspending 5,500 websites selling fake luxury branded goods. Last year, it dismantled a criminal operation suspected of importing and selling counterfeit goods, seizing a shipping container with more than 47900 fake versions of one of UK’s most popular beauty brands.  In 2013, EU Customs seized over a million suspected fake cosmetics and perfume items with retail value of more than 55 million Euros.    

The  Cosmetics, Toilet and Perfumery Association (CTPA) has also voiced grave concern, and highlighted the fact that the problem with fake products is that the packaging and look of the product can be almost the same as that of genuine brand which is difficult to detect by common consumers. Such products are not only not genuine, but their use may lead to potential health risks.

The “Wake Up – Don’t Fake Up’ campaign by London Police is being launched to raise awareness of the alarmingly growing counterfeiting cases, and the need for being vigilant, especially before buying from online suppliers.  The rule of thumb being: if it seems to too good to be true then probably it is.

Surprisingly, natural beauty products are being counterfeited so far at that level. Therefore, Herbally Radiant, which specializes in herbal organic skin care formulations has been advising customers to choose from among its top of the range products like Rejuvenating, Radiant or Clean, that are more effective and skin-friendly than the pharma-based products which are being copied by unscrupulous players and sold to unsuspecting consumers.