How to tell a genuine box from a convincing counterfeit

Six checks, one minute

Look for a scratch panel with a unique code, not a printed serial. Check the batch number is embossed or laser-etched rather than stickered. Compare the print quality on the box seams, where counterfeits usually degrade first. Confirm the sachet count matches the box statement. Check the expiry format matches the manufacturer convention. Then enter the code.

A genuine code returns a batch, a manufacture date and a test status. A counterfeit returns nothing, or returns a code already claimed elsewhere.

The marketplace pattern that should end a purchase

If the same product is listed at four different prices by four sellers with near-identical photographs, the cheapest listings are usually parallel imports at best and counterfeits at worst. Price dispersion in a controlled-distribution product is itself the warning.

A second pattern: listings that show the box but never the scratch panel or the batch code. There is only one reason to crop that part of the photograph.

What a used code means

If verification says the code has already been claimed, one of two things happened. Either the box was opened and verified legitimately before you bought it, which makes it a resold or returned unit, or the code was copied onto counterfeit packaging and the original was verified by someone else.

Either way, stop. Photograph the panel and the box, and contact the seller and the brand. Do not consume the product.

If the check fails

Contact us with the code, a photograph of the box base and the name of the seller. We will confirm the batch status, and where a counterfeit is confirmed we will replace the product at our cost and pursue the listing.

This is not generosity. Counterfeits in this category are a safety problem, and we would rather absorb the cost than have the range associated with an unknown powder.