There’s a sucker born every minute. And there are plenty of people looking to take advantage of each and every one of them.
Case in point, 422 fake Super Bowl rings from China were seized in Illinois, according to Jordan Mendoza of USA Today.
Per the report, an import specialist reviewed the rings and determined that they were not authentic, and that they infringed on NFL trademarks. Officers suspected that the rings were going to be sold to consumers, as fake merchandise.
“Counterfeit jewelry continues to flood the e-commerce market, and these rings were focused on a select group of sports collectors and their fans,” LaFonda D. Sutton-Burke, director of border protection field operations in Chicago, said in a statement, via Mendoza.
The message from this one is obvious. Be careful when buying big-ticket memorabilia items online. Make sure you insist on appropriate proof of authenticity. And if anything about the transaction seems even slightly out of sorts, don’t go through with it.