Bought It Thinking It Was Genuine... The Shocking Reality of "484 Times Exceeded"

[Anchor]

A family that had been selling counterfeit luxury goods through social media live broadcasts was busted by police earlier this year. When authorities analyzed the confiscated fake cosmetics, harmful substances such as methanol and lead were detected.

Reporter Hong Yeongjae has the story.

[Reporter]

A woman conducts an SNS live broadcast, advertising that she is selling luxury wallets at low prices.

[Person A / SNS Broadcaster (Last February): Our place, sis, we do Hermes well, considering the price. It's unconditionally in the genuine product line. Sis.]

However, while the broadcast is ongoing, police suddenly barge in.

[Person A / SNS Broadcaster (Last February): Wait a minute. Someone is here. (We are here to execute a search warrant.)]

The products sold during the broadcast were so-called counterfeits that only mimicked the exteriors of luxury brands.

Police seized 7,300 pieces of counterfeit goods worth 20 billion won based on retail prices, and the Korea Consumer Agency tested the safety of 34 products imitating famous cosmetics such as Chanel and Dior among them.

As a result, harmful substances exceeding regulatory limits were detected in 11 products, which accounts for 32%.

Methanol was detected in six types of perfumes ranging from a minimum of 73.7% to a maximum of 96.9%, which exceeds the allowable limit by 368 to 484 times.

While genuine perfumes use ethanol, methanol costs only 13% of ethanol, leading to its toxic use despite the risks.

[Park Jun-yong / Head of the Hazard Management Team, Korea Consumer Agency: When absorbed into the body, methanol can cause vision loss, and long-term exposure can lead to side effects such as central nervous system disorders.]

Some hand cream products simultaneously contained CMIT and MIT, which are banned from use because they can cause allergic skin reactions as well as respiratory and eye irritation.

CMIT and lead components were also detected in lipsticks and body mists.

The Korea Consumer Agency noted that counterfeit cosmetics are highly likely to have lacked proper safety verification and hygiene management. It urged that once a product is identified as a fake, especially since it directly touches the skin, consumers should immediately stop using it and dispose of it.

(Video Editing: Lee Sang-min)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.