Two can play this game: Customs target online marketplaces to ambush fake goods sellers
The community platforms are a new hotbed for counterfeit peddlers, as the number of cases busted this year jumps fourfold
Online community marketplaces and their mobile apps have become a new popular platform to sell counterfeit goods, Hong Kong Customs warned, with a fourfold jump in the number of related cases in the first half of this year.
A 13-year-old boy, who was arrested earlier this year for selling a fake mobile phone on a marketplace, marked the youngest arrestee caught for selling fakes in the city.
The number of cases busted on such platforms jumped year-on-year from nine to 36 in the first six months of this year with 37 arrests, which accounts for nearly 40 per cent of all counterfeit cases and arrests made by authorities over the same period of time.
Customs’ assistant commissioner, Louise Ho Pui-shan, said sellers had moved from auction sites and social media to community marketplaces, as the person-to-person shopping tool combined classified sites, forums and social media together.
“Sellers post pictures of the items, write a few details and then list them for sale. They communicate with potential buyers through a private messaging system,” said Ho, who is in charge of intelligence and investigation. “This adds great convenience in transactions. Some even come with mobile apps.”