Counterfeit AirPod seller receives a two-year suspended prison sentence and 180 hours community service

The sentence comes after a successful trading standards investigation by Hertfordshire County Council.

Mr Owen pleaded guilty at St Albans Magistrates Court on 22 November 2023 to offences under the Trade Marks Act 1994, namely that his company ARO Commerce Ltd which traded as Geekswag.co.uk had both sold, and also had in their possession for future sale, approximately 10,000 units of counterfeit Apple AirPods.

Despite being fake these items were knowingly retailed at competitive prices targeting unsuspecting consumers.

Acting on a complaint from a member of the public, trading standards officers from Hertfordshire County Council seized approximately 2,500 pairs of AirPods in April 2022 from a shipping warehouse in Hemel Hempstead. These were examined and found to be counterfeit.

Had the products been genuine, the retail value would have far exceeded a million pounds. Hertfordshire’s trading standards team moved swiftly during the investigation to ensure that Mr Owen could not continue to benefit from such sales, but also to stop any potential disbursement of funds already obtained by selling the fake goods.

Hertfordshire’s trading standards team will now move forward with initiating confiscation proceedings against Mr Owen with the next hearing at St Albans Crown Court on 17 May.

Trading Standards warn shoppers to be wary of unfamiliar websites that may be selling counterfeits of familiar branded products because:

• Goods ordered may never arrive.
• Items could be poorly made and not working properly.
• The safety of the product is unknown.  
• The price may be much lower than a genuine item, so you buy a useless “bargain.”
• The price may be competitive with genuine products creating the illusion of authenticity.
• Traceability, origin and ethical production is unknown.

Councillor Morris Bright, Executive Member for Public Health & Community Safety said:

“These fake pods were marketed to unsuspecting customers as if they were genuine AirPods and close to the retail price for genuine items, but were in fact low quality counterfeit products imported from China.”

“By offering counterfeit goods for sale Mr Owen sought to dupe unsuspecting consumers with his dodgy wares. My advice to residents when shopping online is to do research before parting with your money – online reviews may alert you to issues with a seller and consider paying by credit card for the additional protection doing so affords.”

“Those additional few minutes of research when shopping online can often be the difference between being scammed or not. If you think you have been sold counterfeit goods, or haven’t received goods you have paid for, get in touch with trading standards so that we can fully investigate and bring these people to justice.”

If you were a customer of ARO Commerce Ltd trading as Geekswag.co.uk and purchased a pair of branded AiroPods or AirPod Pros between 3 May 2021 and 5 April 2022, please contact our Trading Standards department on TS_Scams@hertfordshire.gov.uk by the 10 May 2024. Please include your full name, contact details, order confirmation, order date and order number within the email.

Consumers can contact the Citizens Advice Consumer Service for further advice and guidance on 0800 144 8848.

Businesses can contact us for advice at:  trading.standards@hertfordshire.gov.uk