The Counterfeit Mobile Phones Workshop in Lautoka

Numerous complaints continue to be received by the Consumer Council of Fiji in relation to counterfeit mobile phones.

Speaking at the Counterfeit Mobile Phones Workshop in Lautoka today, Consumer Council-Manager Campaigns, Information and Media, Tevita Vuibau says they’ve received more than 600 complaints since 2014 that amounted to more than a hundred thousand dollars.

“The nature of complaints we received include fake mobile phones, consumers have purchased mobile phones not knowing they were fake or when they took the mobile phone out the box they noticed it didn’t appear as genuine and also had issues with the mobile chargers so counterfeit is not only restricted to the phone.”

Vuibau, says these are just reported cases without accounting unreported ones.

He adds another major issue the Council also noted is the high demand for counterfeit mobile phones due to consumers’ desire to own a new product or the prominent brand.