Thirza O’Boyle took to social media to share her experience of losing £61.80 in savings after purchasing something from a fake Pandora website. The bogus website advertised discounted jewellery that appeared to be legitimately from the jewellers.
Research from Pandora found nearly one in five Britons have been duped by a fake jewellery scam online.
The company discovered counterfeit jewellery is rife on TikTok Shop with accounts promoting fake Pandora products for as little as £5.
Unfortunately, the fraudsters are reaching a large audience, with one video promoting the fake goods reaching more than 1.2 million views.
A Pandora spokesperson said: “Unfortunately, we face the challenge of counterfeiters copying our designs and violating our brand.
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“We do not tolerate this and we operate an anti-counterfeiting programme against manufacturers and distributors of Pandora counterfeit products.
“We remove hundreds of thousands of fake listings, websites and social media posts every year.
“We are concerned by the recent trend on TikTok of accounts promoting fake Pandora products, especially at this time of year where people spend their hard-earned savings buying gifts for loved ones.
“We urge all users to be aware these are not real Pandora products and that these are classed as counterfeit items which are illegal under copyright infringement laws.”
DON’T MISS
“By law, in the UK any jewellery over the minimum weight which is claimed to be gold, silver, platinum, or palladium, must have a hallmark stating its purity and metal type. The UK Assay Offices independently check and hallmark jewellery to protect consumers.
“If in doubt, research the hallmark number you spot online to learn more about the purity and provenance of the jewellery.”
He also said shoppers should check for authenticity certification and for any brand accuracies in the logo, colouring or spelling.
Another key sign that a supposed piece of Pandora jewellery is a fake, is if the item is missing the maker’s mark.
Mr Golding said: “Before January 1, this was just ‘ALE’, which are the initials of Algot Enevoldsen, the father of Pandora’s founder Per Enevoldsen.
“However, in the wake of Brexit you may now see a new maker’s mark on Pandora jewellery being sold in Great Britain, being ‘PJ’ inside a square in addition to ‘ALE’.”
“Additionally, there should be a crown on top of the ‘O’ in the Pandora logo on any piece of jewellery. It is these small touches that counterfeit jewellery is often missing.”
