Trading standards take down fake ‘coronavirus protection’ goods

Trading Standards has warned people trying to sell products falsely claiming to protect against Covid 19 that they will be tracked down and stopped, no matter where they try to sell them.

A Darlington seller advertising face masks on eBay which they claimed to be ‘reuseable’ and with ‘virus protection’ were found by staff from Darlington Borough Council’s Trading Standards team following a sweep of online selling platforms.

The trader was looked at because there were no required details on the masks themselves and he had not provided the necessary information on the product information page showing that the face masks complied with the relevant legislation.  

After informing eBay about the problem items, they were removed from sale within 48 hours.

Dawn Taylor, Trading Standards manager at Darlington Borough Council, said: “It is important in these times that the public are safe and that they can buy such products knowing them to be effective rather than potentially life threatening. 

“Any Darlington sellers that do not follow the rules will be found and the products will be removed from sale.”

Councillor Jonathan Dulston, cabinet member for stronger communities, said: “This is a great result by our Trading Standards team and I hope it acts as a reminder to any unscrupulous sellers in the town of how seriously we deal with the sale of potentially dangerous goods.

“As always, I encourage anyone who has concerns about any item for sale in the borough, particularly those making claims about protecting from or ‘curing’ Covid 19 to contact Trading Standards and they will act.”

Darlington Trading Standards will act against any fake or dangerous items that are advertised or supplied to a consumer. Darlington-based sellers will be particularly targeted but where any items or sellers come to light outside the borough they will be reported to their local trading standards team under the Home Authority system and dealt with accordingly.

You can report any concerns anonymously via https://www.darlington.gov.uk/your-council/trading-standards/