DUBAI Fake luxury goods sellers in Dubai are luring new clientele on facebook with free door-to-door delivery despite crackdowns by authorities.
From a ‘diamond crusted’ Dior timepiece to an immaculate pair of Cartier sunglasses, they will now let you scoop your favourite fashion label at a fraction of its original price from facebook pages that brazenly advertise stocks of luxury label fakes. “To order (or get more information) please contact us by WhatsApp,” reads a post on one such page that has over 43,000 likes. Here you will get copies of watches, handbags, sunglasses, wallets and even pens and shoes from every fashion house you can name and that’s sold on the sly in Dubai, for a price most happily pay.
No warranty
When XPRESS called one such number posing as a customer, a man who identified himself as ‘Hamid’, said deliveries were done directly on cash payment and that he had no office or shop.
“Our products are of good quality but there’s no warranty on them. If any problem arises within three months of the purchase of our products, we will either repair or replace them,” he promised. “Any problem, just give me a call or message me. I will have it collected by a delivery boy and return it to you after either replacing or repairing the item.”
Ashley (name changed on request) who recently ordered a Dh450 ‘luxury’ watch – the price of the original being Dh34,000 – said she is aware fake brands are illegal in the country but their cheap and easy availability online is hard to ignore. “Ordering is hassle-free as you don’t have to visit their cramped up storehouses in Karama and Bur Dubai anymore. The look and finishing, if not the quality, is just next to the original, so you know why many like me fall for these products,” she explained.
According to her, posts of duplicate goods on facebook had grown significantly in recent months, peaking particularly during Ramadan and Eid.
Last Ramadan, police in Dubai seized counterfeit merchandise worth Dh34 million as part of a campaign in collaboration with Dubai’s Department of Economic Development (DED). Earlier this year, DED also shut 40 Instagram accounts and almost 500 websites promoting and selling dubious luxury items.
