An online shopping directory has just been created to help consumers avoid being ripped-off.
Fake luxury brand websites attract more than 120 million visits a year with an estimated £82 billion being spent online on counterfeit goods.
Brand-i (www.brand-i.org) was created to let you search through your favourite well-known brands and find the genuine online stockists.
Andy Foster, Operations Director for the Trading Standards Institute, a partner of Brand-i, said: "Brand-i offers a way for consumers to wade through the hundreds of counterfeit stores that appear in search engine results or on social media pages.
"It's an important additional tool in fighting internet crime but also empowering consumers - not just with the directory listings but advice on how to recognise illegal web stores. There is also a facility for consumers to report sites they have been ripped-off by or what they suspect aren't genuine."
Brand-i founder Jenny Dalton said: "The idea for Brand-i was that there had to be a better way of reassuring online shoppers that the stores they were using were authentic and selling the genuine products. Our site allows consumers to find these genuine sites and avoid them taking a risk."
Examples of the type of brands that are currently involved include UGG, GHD, Chanel, Pandora, and Ted Baker.
Via mirror.co.uk
Luxury News / Golden Choice by Lux Creative International
