Name: Tips to spot fake products and avoid holiday shopping scams
Uploaded: 2025-12-09T23:04:34.195Z
Duration: 4 min 19 s
Description: Experts warn counterfeit goods surge during the holidays, with scammers using fake sites and stolen images to trick shoppers. Risky products can contain hazardous materials or steal personal data. Officials urge buyers to verify sellers, watch for red flags and report counterfeit items.

Experts warn counterfeit goods surge during the holidays, with scammers using fake sites and stolen images to trick shoppers. Risky products can contain hazardous materials or steal personal data. Officials urge buyers to verify sellers, watch for red flags and report counterfeit items.

Salt Lake City

Counterfeit products are a growing concern for consumers, particularly during the holiday shopping season. Experts warn that fake goods can appear on legitimate online marketplaces and social media platforms, sometimes putting buyers at risk of financial loss and exposure to dangerous materials. 

Shoppers are advised to be cautious of deals that seem too good to be true, verify sellers, and check for authenticity markers such as trademarks and certificates. If a counterfeit item is received, consumers should report it to authorities like the Federal Trade Commission or local law enforcement to help combat organized counterfeiting operations.

Tips to spot fake products and avoid holiday shopping scams

Whether you're decking the halls with boughs of holly, roasting your chestnuts on an open fire, or asking Santa for your two front teeth, chances are you want the holly, chestnuts, and teeth to be real. So as you merrily scroll your phone in search of the perfect gifts for your friends and family, I'm making sure you don't fa-la-la-la fall for a dupe. Unfortunately, even on legitimate sites that try their best to police the counterfeits that are on their sites, you still see counterfeits getting into the supply chain. And that's not even to discuss the unscrupulous criminals who try to take advantage of consumers, particularly during the holidays. Frank Cullen, the executive director for the Council for Innovation Promotion, says you might be looking to steal a deal, but scammers are looking to do the same thing at your expense. It's the ability to reproduce digitally images. They'll simply rip an image, slap it into a new counterfeit website, and the consumer just will have a very tough time seeing what they're actually getting. Long gone are the days when you had to go to a big box retailer to nab those presents. Sites like TikTok and Instagram peddle products that seem fun and unique, but chances are they may not exist. Very often they'll stand up what look to be very legitimate sites that are completely fake. They'll redirect consumers to sites that not only peddle counterfeit goods, but may also allow for them to steal their personal information, their financial information, information about their family. So this is a very serious problem. And it's a safety issue. Many counterfeits are made in inadequate conditions, often using child or forced labor. They're usually made with dangerous materials like lead, certain dyes that can irritate skin, or batteries that catch fire and explode, all very harmful to consumers. We've seen many people suffer serious injury, even death, because of counterfeits. Typically during the holiday season, some of the most popular items are gonna be electronics, toys, luxury brand goods, and even personal care items. All of those can be made with substandard or even dangerous materials. You're not welcome. So how do you avoid these wrenches? First, if it says it's discounted or it seems cheaper than you know the price would be, it's probably too good to be true. Next, verify the seller you're doing business with. Unfortunately, even legitimate sites like Amazon, Etsy, and eBay do allow third parties to sell products on their sites, making it difficult to verify third party sellers. Visit the actual brand's website to see if everything matches up. It's best to buy direct from the seller. Look for trademarks or certificates of authenticity. And although criminals are clever, sometimes they're sloppy. Something as simple as a grammar or spelling mistake in the description of the product, or other quality-related errors on the website like fuzzy pictures, or a font that doesn't match the font you've associated with a particular vendor, are signs you should not buy. But say you happen to open a box of disappointment, what should you do? First, if you do receive a fake counterfeit, if you dealt with a legitimate or reputable vendor, the likelihood is they'll work with you because they don't want to have their brand or their store's reputation damaged because they become known as peddling fakes and counterfeits. So you really want to make sure you report it and try to see if they'll provide you with some kind of a refund. Remember, this is not a victimless crime. Reporting your experience not only helps you, but other consumers. Don't just assume you got ripped off, oh well, so sad, shame on me. Report the crime because the sooner the authorities are aware of who these counterfeits are, and these counterfeit gangs can be quite organized and large, they can try to take them down. If you do decide to report a counterfeit item, you can report it to the Federal Trade Commission or the Consumer Product Safety Commission. You can even report it to local law enforcement. Some departments have entire divisions dedicated to busting these counterfeiters. We have links to those agencies I mentioned with this story on our website. From the studio wishing you the merriest of Christmases, this is Robyn's Consumer Christmas Cards.

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