Popularity for wireless earphones has soared in recent years and the electronic items are a common Christmas present. Yet a growing number are counterfeit, warns the Federal Government’s Economy Department.
The FPS Economy has this year seized 70% more counterfeit products than last year – a total of 176,667 items with an overall value in excess of €4 million.
The sharp increase compared to 2021 is partly due to the Covid-19 pandemic which saw some law enforcement areas closed, meaning that no inspections took place at that time. This year's huge rise is also partly explained by a number of large cases that were followed up in 2022.
Almost two-thirds of counterfeit items were perfume and personal care products. A remarkable number of counterfeit condoms were found, the FPS Economy stated. Significantly more counterfeit accessories for smartphones were also seized, mainly chargers and wireless earphones.
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The Federal Government department confiscated as many as 28,240 of them in 2022: “Wireless earphones from popular brands such as Samsung, Apple or JBL were remarkably common. These are sold via various channels: both in stores and on the street, as well as through social media or online sales platforms,” the FPS Economy reports.
The checks also found a new technique for bypassing inspections. Namely, the counterfeit earphones and chargers were double-packaged: externally with a fake version of the branded packaging before having different packaging around the product itself. In this way, counterfeiters hope to pass an inspection.
