[Exclusive] 200,000 influencers said it was a 'recommended item'... "It's a fake"

<Anchor>

It has been confirmed that a person with 200,000 followers is being investigated by the police after being sued by a famous foreign home appliance company.

He had been selling dryers through his social media, but as a result of the company's confirmation, it was determined that it was a fake product.

Let's see what reporter Sagong Seong-geun exclusively covered and continue to ask questions.

<Reporter>

Mr. Kim, an entrepreneur, is an influencer with over 200,000 followers on Instagram alone.

He gained popularity by selling fruit cheaply on social media, and expanded his business to electronic products.

However, Dyson Korea recently filed a complaint with the police against Mr. Kim for violating the trademark law.

The hair dryer sold by Mr. Kim was the problem.

[Mr. Kim/Influencer: Dyson Korea is not genuine, Dyson Global is certain. Everyone.

There will be a certified serial number, and it will be registered in the UK.]

Mr. Kim sold a dryer for 300,000 won with a regular price of 500,000 won, saying it was a parallel import product from China and Europe.

It advertised that it is possible to register products on the website of the headquarters in the UK.

[Mr. A/Victim: I tried to buy it because it was so meritorious in terms of price, and when I first promoted it, I said it was genuine...

.]

However, Dyson Korea's appraisal results were different.

Dyson said, "The product turned out to be a counterfeit of unknown origin, not a genuine parallel import, and even the registration number of the genuine product was copied and used."

In addition, it was confirmed that some were caught by customs at the import stage and disposed of.

When I looked at the product myself, it doesn't seem to have much difference from the genuine product in terms of design and color, but there is no KC mark to certify the safety of the electrical product.

Buyers also say there are more than one or two slack spots.

[Mr. B/Victim: Little by little, everything doesn't fit.

There is a wind direction pattern and a cooling fan shape, but the pattern itself was printed.

It is a product that cannot be produced as a finished product.]

Enlarge Image

Police believe that Kim sold up to 2,000 products.

In response to reporters' questions, Mr. Kim repeated his claim that it is a "parallel import product that passes customs and can be registered as a product."

The police plan to investigate whether Kim knew whether it was a fake or not, and the detailed import route.

(Video coverage: Kim Yong-woo, Video editing: Park Ki-duk, CG: Lee Jong-jeong, Screen provision: Dyson)

---

<Anchor>

Reporter Sagong Seong-geun, who covered this story, is listed.

[Reporter Sagong Seong-geun: It's similar to the way many other influencers sell things.

Mr. Kim, who sold the product, also promoted the product through personal SNS and opened a group chat room to sell the product.

In fact, you can see that product promotion, sales, and payment are all done on social media while operating more than 20 chat rooms with up to 1,000 people.]

[Reporter Sagong Seong-geun: In fact, the influence of influencers these days is no less than that of celebrities, so the global influencer marketing market has more than tripled compared to five years ago.

As the market grows, various problems arise.

Over the past four years, the number of cases of sales of counterfeit products through social media has nearly doubled in Korea.

In order to reduce damage, first of all, in the case of single sellers, you should check whether they are registered as mail order sellers.

You must be registered as a mail-order business to receive measures such as exchanges or refunds within the consumer protection regulations.

Let's listen to the Consumer Agency's explanation.]

[Lee Mok-joon/Korea Consumer Agency Textile Food Team Leader: You can check whether you are registered as a mail order business on the Fair Trade Commission website.

The Seoul E-Commerce Center determines whether it is a frequent victim...

.]

[Reporter Sagong Seong-geun: Also, as you saw earlier, it would be helpful to check if the KC mark, a national certification mark, is stamped.]