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The Better Business Bureau issued a warning to online shoppers after dozens of people reported they've fallen for scams when trying to buy popular Labubu dolls online and, in some cases, lost hundreds of dollars.
The BBB Scam Tracker has 76 reports from people who thought they were purchasing authentic Labubus, but they turned out to be counterfeit dolls known as Lafufus, or they didn’t receive anything at all.
Some customers say they realized their mistake almost immediately after placing their orders and reached out to the seller only to be told it was too late to cancel, or to be ghosted and later find the website from which they ordered no longer existed.
Many of the customers reported they made their purchases on websites they found through ads on social media, largely TikTok and Instagram, which the BBB warns against as sponsored ads are a common way scammers look to trick online shoppers.
A customer who lost almost $500 in July said the website that scammed them used images and descriptions from the website of Labubu maker Pop Mart, "giving the impression the products were authentic."
The most commonly reported scam sellers were Kawaii Room, Cult Neo, Bubulands, Bears R Us and Labubu Fantasy.
The BBB warns customers to be wary of too-good-to-be-true deals, read customer reviews, search any new website on the BBB Scam Tracker and use traceable payment methods, like credit cards, instead of peer-to-peer payment apps.
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The easiest way to ensure the purchase of an authentic Labubu is to shop directly through the Pop Mart Amazon store of popmart.com, which does provide advance warning of new product drops but the dolls often sell out quickly. If shopping elsewhere, Alyssa Parker with the Better Business Bureau of Eastern Carolinas told ABC7 what to look for: "One of the telltale signs is the fact that the real Labubu has nine teeth. Their face is a specific color and actually has an authenticity stamp on the bottom of their foot," she said. "The fake ones will not have that; they may have a different number of teeth in their face, maybe a little bit of a different color." Authentic toys also have a QR code on both the box and the wash label, which will direct owners to a verification page when scanned. Authentic packaging also has a 3D, holographic sticker with "POP MART" clearly printed on the box, while fake ones may have flat, dull, or poorly printed holograms, along with blurry or misaligned QR codes.
Labubus are small plush toys, often worn as key chains, that have been made by Pop Mart since 2019. Labubus have skyrocketed in popularity thanks, in part, to endorsements from celebrities like Lisa from the K-pop group Blackpink, Rihanna and Dua Lipa, and also through TikTok “unboxing” videos that shot them to viral fame. Labubus typically sell for $20 to $30 in “blind boxes” so the buyer doesn’t know what color or design the doll has until the box is opened. Much-more-valuable “secret” Labubus, which consumers have a 1-in-72 chance of buying, have popped up on resale sites for thousands of dollars. Fans have lined up at Pop Mart stores and vending machines for hours, even traveling overseas to get their hands on one. And while some people are buying knock-off Labubus by accident, others are knowingly looking to buy Lafufus and the counterfeit market is booming. Customs offices in China seized nearly 49,000 suspected Lafufus in recent weeks, the Washington Post reported, and another 200,000 fake Labubu goods were seized in Ningbo in April. TikTokers are going viral by showing off their Lafufu hauls, and counterfeit dolls have shown up in boutiques and gift shops around the world.
149%. That's how much search for 'Lafufu' has risen in the last month, USA Today reported.
Pop Mart pulled the dolls from all U.K. stores following reports of customers fighting over them earlier this year.
Wang Ning,the 38-year-old founder of toy maker Pop Mart International Group, has an estimated net worth of $22.9 billion. He joined the ranks of China’s top 10 billionaires for the first time in June. Pop Mart went public in Hong Kong in 2020.