Rise in Hong Kong school students caught selling fake goods online
Although many of the youngsters did not market the products as genuine, they were unaware that such trading is illegal
More school students are being caught earning pocket money by selling fake goods online, which is now the main platform for offloading counterfeit items.
The Customs and Excise Department said the number of cases cracked in online community marketplaces jumped from 36 to 74 in the first six months of this year compared with the same period of 2016. This accounted for more than 80 per cent of all online counterfeit cases over that time.
The number of fakes seized in physical stores jumped fourfold, to 14,025.
Catherine Yip Wai-sim, head of the intellectual property investigation bureau, said although the total number of arrested students had dropped from 37 to 32, 93 per cent of them were caught selling fake clothes, watches and leather products in community marketplaces this year. This compared with only 27 per cent in the same period of 2016.
Yip said many of the youngsters were not aware of the legal consequences even though they stated the products were “not real”, “1:1”, “toys” and “high-quality fakes”.
