The Korea Customs Service ("KCS") announced that the Incheon Customs Office recently arrested a group of individuals who had been making billions of Korean Won selling counterfeit products through social media live streams on various platforms. The case was subsequently transferred to the Incheon District Prosecutor's Office with an opinion of indictment.

Earlier this year, the Incheon Customs Office received a consumer complaint that counterfeit clothes were being sold through social media and initiated an investigation. Over several months, Customs investigators uncovered the locations of the counterfeiters' secret warehouses, conducted raids, seized 21,938 items of counterfeit clothing (worth around KRW 3 billion if they had been genuine products) and arrested five individuals. The counterfeiters had been counterfeiting the brands of 43 different companies, recruiting sellers via live stream, and selling the goods through these sellers to Korean consumers. To conceal their activities, they sold a mix of counterfeit and genuine products.

The KCS emphasized that they plan to strengthen their investigations against the smuggling and sale of counterfeit products, an industry that is becoming increasingly complex and diverse. They will also work with social media platforms that offer streaming services to ensure that accounts that are used to sell counterfeits are quickly taken down. The KCS encourages the public to submit complaints if they suspect counterfeits are being sold, as they may be entitled to monetary compensation if the complaint leads to an active case.