Shoppable, live broadcasting of fake shoes in China
Local media have reported that more than 220,000 pairs of counterfeit well-known brand shoes have been seized by a coalition of security bodies in China recently.
In line with the current trend for live, shoppable broadcasts in the country, the fake goods had been “high-simulation” livestreamed to Chinese netizens for purchase, several of whom raised the alarm. Some of the counterfeited shoes being sold online had not even been made available for purchase by official vendors yet.
The fake shoes, sold at less than 10% the price of the authentic article, apparently came with a “genuine” box and packaging, plus had NFC anti-counterfeiting technology embedded within them.
In addition to the hundreds of thousands of finished and semi-finished shoes, six production sites, five storage sites, 60 machines and three production lines were all ultimately seized and destroyed by Chinese security forces. 62 suspects were arrested on suspicion of criminal activity.
Unusually, the case was cross-regional in scope, with suspects collaborating across multiple areas, such as Guangzhou (Guangdong province) and Ningde, Putian and Zhouning (all in Fujian province). Purchasers of the inauthentic items came from across China.
