Gang taken down for selling fake LinaBell dolls through live shopping

Credit: Ti Gong

Caption: The online shop where the fakes were sold.

Credit: Ti Gong

Caption: Some of the fakes seized from the suspects by police.

Seventeen suspects have been held for allegedly selling fake trademark dolls, including Disney's popular pink fox LinaBell, through live shopping sessions, Shanghai police said on Tuesday.

Police in Jing'an District started their investigation earlier this year after a man surnamed Liu reported the case.

Liu paid 42 yuan (US$6.2) to buy a LinaBell doll during a live shopping session on Douyin, a popular short video website, while its market price is 219 yuan. However, the doll delivered to him later turned out to be a botched job.

Police found that Liu was not alone in complaining about the inferior quality of the cheap dolls sold by the live shopping business, which was one of the most followed ones on the video platform.

The dolls sold by the gang were fakes that were purchased from a factory at a price of 5 to 20 yuan each, and since the end of last year, the gang reaped more than 5 million yuan in illegal sales, according to police.

Among the suspects, 13 people who ran the business were rounded up last week, and four others who operated the factory that produced the fakes were caught on Monday.

The factory has allegedly sold about 20 million yuan worth of fakes.