SCAMMERS MAKE FAKE POPPY BADGES
HUNDREDS OF BOGUS CHARITY GOODS ARE FOUND IN RAID ON WAREHOUSE
CRIMINALS have hit a new low – making and flogging counterfeit Poppy Appeal goods.
Instead of cash going to members of the Armed Forces and their families, it is going into the pockets of fraudsters through the sale of bogus items.
Around 1,700 badges, pendants and earrings were seized by trading standards officers from a wholesale warehouse in Cheetham Hill.
Many were embossed with the words ‘Lest We Forget.’
A senior Manchester councillor described the haul as ‘absolutely appalling’ and branded those responsible ‘callous scammers.’ The find came just over a week before Remembrance Sunday.
An investigation into the source of the goods is ongoing. The items were seized during a routine inspection, town hall chiefs said.
The Intellectual Property Office (IPO) and The Royal British Legion are urging people to be vigilant when buying poppy merchandise.
Donations are intended to support members of the Armed Forces and their families, but could end up benefiting fraudsters if merchandise is fake.
Manchester town hall’s neighbourhoods chief Coun Rabnawaz Akbar said: “It is absolutely appalling that counterfeiters would sink to the depths of creating fake poppy merchandise, to try to exploit the public’s desire to support members of our Armed Forces community.”
Claire Rowcliffe, director of fundraising at The Royal British Legion said: “We would urge everyone wishing to purchase a Remembrance poppy brooch, to do so through official channels.”
If you have spotted fake poppy merchandise on sale, call Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555 111.