Fife Council’s trading standards team has become the first in Scotland to have a Facebook group closed for selling counterfeit goods.
Working in partnership with Facebook, Trading Standards Scotland and the National Trading Standards e-Crime Team, they successfully took down a page run by a Fife-based group which sold counterfeit clothing, cosmetics and electrical goods.
A police investigation is also under way.
Enforcement officers in Fife received a number of complaints from concerned consumers regarding counterfeit and potentially dangerous goods.
Lead officer Dawn Adamson said the move to close down the offending site should serve as a warning to others.
“Trading standards continue to work with our partners to disrupt the sale of counterfeit goods online,” she said.
“The ability to have infringing Facebook pages or content removed is another string to our bow.
“I would urge consumers who have concerns about suspected counterfeit products being sold online to report it to Fife Council’s trading standards at www.fifedirect.org.uk/tradingstandards.”
Officers in Fife took action after people expressed concerns about the brand-name goods purchased in good faith, only to find out they were counterfeit.
A report recently revealed that complaints about the sale of counterfeit goods on Facebook soared 400% since 2010.