And it is that counterfeits are persecuted twice. Brands suffer millionaire losses from fakes, and for this reason AliExpress no longer allows them. The European Commission forced online stores (including Amazon) to prevent the sale of counterfeit products, and for this they have numerous filters.
The ECCIA (European Cultural and Creative Industries Alliance), which represents more than 600 luxury brands in the EU, calls for more demanding laws than the Digital Services Law. According to the OECD, 6.8% of imports in 2020 in the EU were counterfeit products, with a value of 121,000 million euros. Buying fashion and luxury online is increasingly popular thanks to the offers and a larger catalog available, which is why it is important to protect it.
Telegram and AliExpress: the new way to sell fakes
However, now there is a new mechanism that they cannot fight against: the joint use of Telegram and AliExpress. A common technique in the online store is to establish a form of contact between the seller and the buyer outside of AliExpress. Thanks to this, the seller can guide the user towards the purchase of counterfeit products, but with generic names that have nothing to do with the product.
How To Have A God-Centered Morning Routine https://t.co/qwJ63Cvn1r via @YouTube
— JaaackJack Thu Jul 15 23:28:00 +0000 2021
With this, in Telegram there are several channels dedicated to the sale of replicas and clones. These channels put the links to a product, and the corresponding images. The name of the brands is used in code, and in the linked ads on AliExpress we do not see any reference to the brands. In the event that any reference is seen, they are usually acronyms or code names to choose specific models.
The stores they use for this are usually newly created, with few or no sales, and with generic names. These stores usually do not last long, since they are constantly being renovated so as not to raise suspicions. In addition, from the groups they ask that the store not be contacted about the products purchased or photos be sent, since that would set off alarms from AliExpress when reviewing the complaints.
Fashion, jewelry or tech: the most counterfeit in AliExpress
Among counterfeit products there is everything. Bags, sneakers, jewelry, t-shirts, sweatshirts, pants, Apple AirPods (including Pro or Max), and much more. In the following image we can see the modus operandi, with a link that has nothing to do with what is actually sold. Among the most counterfeited brands we find Nike, Vans, Louis Vuitton, Calvin Klein, Chanel, Gucci, Prada, and a long etcetera.
Buying this product out of the box will not result in a sale, but you also need to submit a keyword to the seller for the purchase to be valid. With that, they make sure that everyone who buys it comes from the Telegram group, and not that they have found it by chance on AliExpress. The links are usually available for a few weeks, after which they already delete and create a new ad.
As we can see, sellers use more and more tricks and tricks to be able to sell all kinds of fakes on the Internet. Selling them is a crime, and if you get caught buying them, you may be in trouble too.
