The Anti-Counterfeit Authority (ACA) on Monday, January 4, cautioned parents against buying fake school products as learning resumes across the country.
A number of parents and guardians have been on a last-minute rush to buy school materials for their children, with a number falling prey to counterfeit products.
"Anti-Counterfeit Authority cautions parents and guardians during this shopping season as they prepare students to return to school. As you look for best deals on everything from textbooks, clothing to school supplies.
"Commonly counterfeited goods include Shoes and clothing. They are prime targets and most are poorly-manufactured made with subpar materials," read the statement in part.
ACA advised parents on how to spot fake goods noting that counterfeit products often show rips and tears while counterfeit shoes produce pungent glue smell and offer no quality assurance.
Textbooks have also been pirated by dubious businessmen as the authority recently seized thousands of counterfeit textbooks at various border points.
ACA noted that the counterfeit books binding begin to tear, images and words begin to melt, others had missing entire pages.
"We advise Kenyans to buy from certified retailers. Look for relevant certification labels. Search products for obvious design flaws, misspellings, and other manufacturing defects: blatant errors point to counterfeit goods.
"Shoppers should trust their instincts/perception. Trust your uncomfortable pain; maybe price was suspiciously low; or you weren’t offered a sales receipt or warranty, or seller could not answer or refused to answer questions about product – trust yourself and shop elsewhere!" the statement further read.
ACA asked parents to adopt the 4P's in identifying counterfeit products with the first one being Place (Buying from licensed retailers and distributors).
Price (Beware of unusual discounts), Packaging (Check out for spelling mistakes and poor packaging) and Perception (Check out physical characteristics).
This comes after the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) back in December warned online shoppers against falling prey to scammers.
