Counterfeit goods abound this season on the Internet. A comprehensive study released
December 7 by Cyveillance, the leading internet surveillance watch-dog, it is
estimated that of the 20,000 to 25,000 internet sites that sell luxury items, one in five
of those sells counterfeit products. The study included more than 150,000 sites on the
World Wide Web.
Children’s toys are not the only products being knocked off. All luxury items,
including gold and diamond jewelry, should be considered suspect until the items
advertised brand affiliation and/or quality can be confirmed. Remember, that an article
carries a well-known brand name does not make it a quality item. Some of the
most often counterfeited brands are Rolex, Calvin Klein and Gucci.
Buyers should be aware that many toys, up-scale clothing articles and other luxury goods
sold as "bargains" are not the genuine article but merely replicas or outright
fakes of the item sought.
Think of the Internet as a street you walk down: it is always safer to buy from an
established shop along that avenue than from a table set up on the corner. This is also
true on the Internet: there are many good, established firms with WebPages on the
Internet, there are also many hucksters who may have a Website but are not to be trusted.
Just because you see a Website doesn’t mean the business is to be trusted or even
exists. Always inquire how long that site has been in business before it went on
the Internet. And always consult the Diamond Buyers Checklist,
provided by the Diamond Registry on our Website at www.diamondregistry.com.
As always, look before you leap: "virtual" sellers may not sell actual
diamonds. If it seems to good to be true...it probably is."
