The RCMP is helping to recoup as much as $5 million per year for customers who believe they have bought counterfeit merchandise, including fake sports jerseys and other sports memorabilia.
Barry Elliott, head of the RCMP鈥檚 criminal intelligence analytical unit, said Canada鈥檚 national police force is recovering cash for about 300 victims every week. The average victim is recovering about $300, he said.
Over the past six months, the RCMP has established a close relationship with the NHL, and is currently planning to train French law enforcement about how to model their own program after Canada鈥檚 anti-fraud centre.
W5 and TSN鈥檚 series Faking It exposed how widespread the problem of counterfeiting has become throughout the sports industry and Elliott鈥檚 advice will be welcome news to many victims.
Elliott said securing refunds for fake items is a simple procedure that doesn鈥檛 even require a police report, so long as credit cards have been used for the purchases.
Customers have 540 days from the time of purchase to pursue such refunds, he said.
First, customers contact their credit card company and report the fraud. The credit card issuer will then direct customers to the RCMP鈥檚 antifraud unit. Its website is
The website requires the customer to input the name of the website they used to buy their fakes, as well as the name of the merchant that charged the customer鈥檚 credit card.
The RCMP then confirms that the merchant and website are known to have sold fake items, and send an email back to the victim, who can print out that email and take it in to their bank.
鈥淚t takes maybe 2 to 4 weeks all told,鈥� Elliott told TSN.
He said the RCMP is working with the NHL and 400 to 500 other companies.
After helping France establish its own program, the RCMP hopes other G-20 countries will follow suit.
鈥淚t鈥檚 like the Roman battles of old where the arrows block the sun,鈥� Elliott said. 鈥淲e want to block them completely from online sales so they hae to come up with a new way to sell to the public.鈥�
Elliott said customers are not required to send back their fake merchandise to the company.
鈥淵ou have the fake shirt but you don鈥檛 have to return it to China,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e don鈥檛 want the bad guys to get the shirt back and sell it to someone else. We ask the victim to destroy it and whatever they do with it they do with it.鈥�
In W5 and TSN's series Faking It, legal experts estimated that the vast majority of fake items are being produced in China.
Elliott said credit card issuers have the ability to levy fines on Chinese banks that maintain relationships with merchants who sell fake items.
While fake jerseys are a problem, they do not represent the majority of complaints.
鈥淲e get a lot of complaints about fake Michael Kors, and Ugg boots, and Canada Goose jackets, which can have fleas or chicken poop in them if they are fake,鈥� Elliott said. 鈥淢ost of the fake jersey complaints are the kind where a mom has ordered her son a jersey and didn鈥檛 know it was fake.鈥�
