It took until 2011 but finally...

...it seems like someone's caught on. Actually, I think everyone's caught on. The consumer realizes that she has to be careful when buying UGG boots, the major search engines (Google, Bing and Yahoo) have done a good job of cleaning up their act and not promote fake ugg boot sites, and importantly the manufacturer down a lot to shut down the factories in China making the fake product. But we're not out of the woods yet! As long as something is successful, it will be copied. A lot of the fakes have moved to Facebook, where they can still get away with selling their shoddy merchandise.

Anybody seen any new methods the counterfeiters are using to promote their fake UGG boots?

Things to look for on Google Adwords

Here's a few tips you can use when looking at an Adwords ad to tell if you have a legitimate site or not. 


Adwords ads are, by the way, the sponsored links (paid listings) on Google located on the top of a search page in a light pink background and also on the right hand column of the screen.

1. Come back in a few days to check if the site is still listed. Can't find the site? Wonder why. They've probably been removed by Google.

2. Google and Deckers (manufacturer of the UGG Australia brand) have gotten together and white-listed the sites that can actually use the word 'UGG' in the link and text of all adwords ads. So you'll see advertisers use the word UGG with something directly before or after it such as:

• AusUGG boots
• UJJ
• U99
• VGG
• OfficialU®GG boots

3. Deep discounts = counterfeit almost always. check first before buying.


4. Poor English or foreign language: Some advertiser keeps selling Bottes de Neige (snow boots in French). Why Google doesn't shut this guy down I'll never know. Many different ads pop up with the is bit of French in it and then disappear from the American Google site. (this site circumvents #2 above because it's registered in Australia. See my post from 10/1/2009 for more info)

5. Snow boots is a term not used in conjunction with UGG Australia products by the manufacturer, retailers or customers. If you see this term, rest assured the site sells counterfeit.


WHEN IN DOUBT ALWAYS CONSULT UGGAUSTRALIA.COM's AUTHORIZED ONLINE RETAILER PAGE:
http://www.uggaustralia.com/retailstores/onlinestores.aspx?p=aor

Faked in China

A fantastic story about a Reuters report who knowingly ordered a fake handbag on the internet and followed the trail back to China.

Remember: Buying counterfeit = supporting organized crime

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/us_china_counterfeit

Photos from the story:

http://news.yahoo.com/nphotos/woman-looks-fake-foreign-brand-handbags-stall-Beijing-May-8/photo//101026/ids_photos_ts/r999319530.jpg//s:/nm/us_china_counterfeit;_ylt=AlKH0iJtJ_xdJB7ZZh9hrk4h2.cA;_ylu=X3oDMTE5bGo3a21yBHBvcwMxBHNlYwN5bl9yX3RvcF9waG90bwRzbGsDYXdvbWFubG9va3Nh

The Brits finally get it right!

Finally, the authorities are cracking down on scammer websites selling fake uggs in the UK. They've shut down over 1200 sites, all using the co.uk domain extension, that have proven to sell fakes. HATS OFF TO YOU! 

Just go to google.co.uk, search ugg boots, and try to click on a link that ends in co.uk. You'll get a broken link. 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/8392600.stm

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/police-close-scam-websites-targeting-christmas-shoppers-1833477.html

Keywords to look out for

If you visit a site and suspect it deals in fake ugg boots, here's a few keywords used to dupe customers so look for out for them. See any of these and you'll know you've found a site that sells fakes.

• 'factory direct' - The only way to get UGGs is from the manufacturer or from an authorized dealer. Check the UGG Australia site for authorized dealers. None of them claim to be factory direct.

• 'outlet' - UGG has an outlet store in Calabazas, CA, I believe. But online? no such thing. so if you see a site that claims to be an outlet, it really just sells fakes.

• 'surprise gift' - wonder if that surprise is your credit card bill getting run up by the folks who just stole your credit card number? 

And always remember, if the price looks too good to be true (especially before Christmas), it most likely is.

When categories are used to promote products

Another way to detect a fake site: On the left navigation bar, if you see style names as headers instead of product categories (ladies boots, mens slippers, etc.) like you see on most websites, you're looking at a site that sells fakes. Check out this screen shot of the left navigation bar on a site that sells fakes:

Ever seen this sheep image on a site?

Don't know why but fake ugg boot sites love this poor little sheep picture. I often wondered how they plan on backing up their 'guarantee', since most of these boots aren't real sheepskin!

Another thing to look for.. links to Chinese statics sites

Another thing I noticed today about how counterfeit sites operate is that they'll use free web-based statistics on their home pages and put links up to them. A couple of these third party statics sites are www.51.la and www.cnzz.com. If you notice these small icons on the page, then you know you're dealing with a chinese counterfeiter, so stay away.

Shopping engines vs. search engines

One realization came across me today. As I was searching online, I noticed that counterfeit sites aren't selling on shopping sites such as shopzilla.com or yahoo shopping, but they're everywhere on the search engines. Why is that? I don't have an explanation other than maybe it's harder to open an account on these sites than it is to open an Adwords account with Google.

So look to shopping engines for better results over the search engines!

Falling into a 'Zen' like trance

Ever noticed how all the counterfeit ugg sites kinda look the same? I mean the margins, the titles in the margins, the center of the home page, etc. There's a certain 'feel' to them that you get when you look at these sites, and I'm not saying that just because I see them everyday. There's a reason for that. They all use the same shopping cart software called zen cart. It's free to download and use (no surprise there, why spend a lot developing a site that could potentially be taken down by legal action shortly after it goes up?) . So far, I've not seen any authorized retailers using it, that's not to say there aren't any.

So how can you check if a site is using zen cart? It's simple. Sometimes there's a link at the very bottom of the page, but usually not. So you have to do a bit of detective work.

First, navigate to the home page of the site you suspect sells fakes. Then, using the right mouse button, click anywhere on the page (except an image) and then select 'View Source' or similar (depending on your browser). Then, when you're staring at all that code, press CTRL-F to open the search box. Then search for the word 'zen' (without the quotes) or 'zen cart', 'cart' or 'zen-cart' and read through the code a bit. If there's a reference to zen cart's website, more than likely you're dealing with a counterfeit site.

A lot of these sites don't change their 'favorite' icon either. This is the little icon you see when you save a favorite on your browser or in the tab of the browser window (like the little white B in the orange background you see for this blog). The favorite icon for the zen cart software is a little orange shopping cart and looks like this:

If you see this icon, it's a sure sign you're most likely dealing with a site that sells fakes

Cheers!

Another horror story..

Something I've not covered as of yet is eBay. Most of the UGG items on there are fakes. You can tell if by looking at the photo and if there's a hangtag on the boots.

Recently I've come into contact with someone who purchase classic talls on eBay for $88. She received them directly from China. When she opened the box she was hit with the strong smell, like a permanent marker. They looked just like the real thing, until she looked inside the boots. The lining was acrylic, not sheepskin, and she said it looked like 'teddy bear fur'. She's currently attempting to get her money back from paypal. The company that sold them has been banished from eBay.

So, just goes to show, you get what you pay for, or in this case, she got a lot less than what she paid for.

Keying in on fakes by looking at credit card processors

Like it or not, there's a lot of enabler companies out there that will process credit cards for counterfeit sites. They just want to make their money and don't care about consumers getting ripped off. I've already discussed a few of them, now I'm posting images of their sites so you can know what to look out for. The first one, safepaymentgate.com also known as gspay.com is the processor of choice for these guys. They specialize in 'high risk merchant accounts'. Hmmm... wonder why that is? 

Payment methods scammers use - and how to watch out for them

I took the time today to look at about 20 sites that sell fakes and noticed they have a lot in common. In fact, I know that 5 of them are owned by the same counterfeiting ring in China based on the seller's PayPal email address (see #1 below). Not only do many of them use the same website template, but they also take the same payment methods:

1. PayPal only - Sites that use PayPal as the only option for credit card payments sell fakes. Try it for yourself: add an item to the cart, go through the motions of checkout and get to the PayPal screen. The seller's email address (or user id) will appear on the screen. Most of the time this will be a yahoo, gmail, hotmail etc. email address, indicating a clear scam.
2. Visa/Mastercard - Of the sites I investigated today they all used the same M.O. in regards to accepting credit cards. After you add an item to your cart and get to the payment screen, you're taken to a third party website to complete the transaction that appear secure since there's a clickable GeoTrust seal. The domain name in your browser will change to pay.beijing.com.cn, pay.ips.com.cn, or secure.safepaymentgate.com. The .cn domain should be a dead giveaway, as that's the international code for China. I also encountered Chinese characters on the screen several times. The third outfit, according to it's website, specializes in ' high risk merchant accounts that we will accept for credit card processing' such as 'replica merchant accounts', 'Online Pharmacy merchant accounts', 'High chargebacks/refunds merchant accounts', 'Outbound Telemarketing Merchant Accounts', etc.
3. Western Union/Money Gram - While both of these are reputable companies, if you see a website selling UGGs that accept either of these as payment stay away.
4. Wire Transfer - Many reputable companies will offer this for out of country clients if you ask. If it's listed as a payment option on the checkout screens, watch out.

If you find anything else, I'd love to hear it.

Finally! UGG Australia takes on the counterfeiters

UGG finally is acknowledging the existence of counterfeiters directly on their website, with a tool that allows users to type in a domain name and tells you if it sells legitimate or counterfeit products. There's also pictures of fakes there, why buying counterfeit is wrong, what they're doing and how you can help.

It's about time! A step in the right direction, although still not enough.

http://www.uggaustralia.com/retailstores/counterfeit.aspx

Holding financial data hostage!

We've been getting steady reports over the last year or so of companies that sell bogus UGGs holding customer's credit card information hostage. Here's what one of Decker's lawyers has to say:

"Deckers received a call from a consumer indicating that if a person complains or returns a fake boot to (counterfeiter's website name removed), they post that person’s personal information (name, address phone number, e-mail address, etc.) on a fraud website and claims they committed credit card fraud or online. We hear that an on-line blog posting further indicated that (counterfeiter's website name removed) is requesting $20 from people to have their names removed".

How can you protect yourself? Many ways, check out my other posts but one new innovation to come out in the last couple of years is called EV (extended validation) site security. This turns the address bar in your browser green in Internet Explorer and Firefox and yellow in Google Chrome when you go into secure areas of a site (such as checkout). This means a third pary (Verisign or Network Solutions, for example) have verified that the business is legitimate. A wonderful tool to have on your side!

2100+ sites selling fake uggs???

Wow thats a big number but that's whats coming directly from the manufacturer. I've thought about posting them all here, but geez, that's a lot of sites, I really don't have the time or desire, and no matter, when one is outed they just register a new domain name with some corruption of the word 'ugg' worked into it somehow. That's why I say checking for the word 'ugg' in the url is the easiest way to protect against buying counterfeit product.

Rumor has it that there will be some changes coming real soon to the uggaustralia.com website that is designed to inform and educate about counterfeits, an interactive feature that will help determine if a site sells fakes or not, etc. It's a step in the right direction, but they really need to put that on the main page instead of burying it in the 'retailers' section. Look for it next week if the rumor mill is right.

What should you do if you order fakes on accident?

Good question. Hopefully, you've ordered with your credit card and haven't sent a wire transfer or cashier's check.

If you've not received your order yet, try contacting the company and cancelling the order. If that doesn't work, then refuse delivery when it arrives. That way it will go back at the sender's expense (at least with UPS). And keep in mind you always get more with sugar than with salt, so always act in good faith when dealing with the company in regards for a refund. The credit card companies require this, because if you're still not satisfied with the situation, charge it back against your card and let them know that the merchant sells counterfeit products.

If you've already received your order, then try to get the company to issue you a return label (although not likely) and let them know that you are not satisfied with their counterfeit products. Most of these outfits have poor customer service at best, but again always act in good faith, possibly documenting the contact you have with the company. If all fails, contact your credit card company and inquire about the procedures for a charge back.

Avoiding this situation altogether is the best thing to do. The easiest way is to review ugg australia's list of authorized online retailers, if the company you are considering purchasing from is not there, then they sell fakes.

http://www.uggaustralia.com/retailstores/onlinestores.aspx

Norton Safe Web shows safe web results!

I just got Norton 360 and installed it on my Vista machine at home. I got something I wasn't even gunning for: Something called Norton Safe Web. When you do a search on Google using Internet Explorer and you have Norton 360 installed, these little icons pop up next to each link telling you if a site is safe or not. Easy to read icons tell you if a site is safe, suspect, or no information is available. No information on a site? Sounds like a fishy site to me. Check out the icons below:

Don't have Norton 360? You can still access the same information at Norton Safe Web.

It sells fake UGGs if...

...the word 'ugg' appears anywhere between www. and .com in a website address. The only exception of course is www.uggaustralia.com.

If there's a forward slash (/) anywhere in the domain you're looking at, and the word 'ugg' comes after it or before it, it probably doesn't sell fakes as counterfeiters prefer to use the word 'ugg' in the top-level domain (between www and com).

Keep a watch out! Usually these places will have ridiculously low prices anyway, and that should be another huge red flag.

Google, clean up your search results!

I did a quick Google search for 'ugg boots' today and this is what I got:

Paid ads: 8total, only 3 of which appear on the online authorized retailer list. The others? 1 is a shopping site (which has even more links to other Chinese counterfeit sites), 2 are Australian manufacturers purporting to sell UGG boots when they sell sheepskin boots (see my previous post for more info on that), 2 are are Chinese knock-off companies, one of which guarantees "100% satisfy".

Natural listings: This is the main body of the Google search results, and are unpaid. Of the 10 links (skipping the image listings and product listings), only 2 appear on the online authorized retailer list, 1 is a shopping site, 1 is an Australian manufacturer trying to sell its sheepskin boots as UGG boots, 1 is informational (wikipedia) and 5 sell Chinese counterfeits.

So for a total of 18 links on the first page of Google you get:

• 7 legitimate links (5 authorized retailers, the 1 shopping site that isn't full of counterfeit links and Wikipedia)
• 11 illegitimate links (7 Chinese counterfeiters, 3 Australian selling generic sheepskin boots and the one shopping site loaded with more counterfeit links)

Wake up Google and clean up your listings now! Consumers are being misled by your search results.