Brand-i website offers protection from counterfeit luxury goods

A website has been set up to ensure buyers of luxury brands won't get conned into buying counterfeit goods.

The Brand-i website, which has the backing of the Trading Standards Institute, works by allowing consumers to enter a search for their favourite well-known brands.

But this isn't a bargain-hunting website; Brand-i is supported financially by leading brands and so will only show the websites of authorised resellers.

Jenny Dalton, Brand-i founder, agreed that there may be many genuine resellers of luxury goods that won't be included on the site. But she said this was a matter for the brand owners and they had to check the authenticity of these sites.

However for people who are after genuine goods and who are not too worried about price, the site is a godsend.

Trading Standards and the police often shut down websites offering fake goods, but no sooner do these close, then another pops up to take its place.

"The idea for Brand-i was that there had to be a better way of reassuring online shoppers that the stores they were using were authentic and selling the genuine products. Our site allows consumers to find these genuine sites and avoid them taking a risk."

People who suspect they have found a fake site, or are concerned that they have been ripped off can also use a tool on the site to report their concerns.

Andy Foster, Trading Standards Institute operations director, said: "Because the internet is largely unpoliced, it is becoming increasingly difficult to track. Brand-i offers a way for consumers to wade through the hundreds of counterfeit stores that appear in search engine results or on social media pages.

"It's an important additional tool in fighting internet crime but also empowering consumers - not just with the directory listings but advice on how to recognise illegal web stores. There is also a facility for consumers to report sites they have been ripped off by or what they suspect aren't genuine."

Brand owners such as Ugg, Chanel and two Premier League football clubs have already signed up and the developers expect the number to grow.