Can advertisements of cosmetics presented on the Internet mislead consumers? Today the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection is checking that

According to the Central Statistical Office, the second most popular reason why Poles used the Internet last year was to search for information on goods and services - over seven million people did that and we spent PLN 2.7 billion in e-shops. It is the fourth time that UOKiK has been taking part in the international Sweep Day, surfing the Web to identify potentially fraudulent or deceptive sites to draw consumers' attention to dishonest practices of traders on the Web. This year the campaign is held under the topic “Who can you trust? Targeting testimonials, guarantees and endorsements”. In Poland, the Sweep concerns the market of cosmetics and related advertisements that can mislead consumers.

In every country participating in the Sweep, offers found on the Internet are verified in terms of their legality according to similar principles. Advertisements and other materials encouraging consumers to do shopping on the Web are analysed. After the Sweep is finished, owners of potentially unlawful Internet portals and sites will be sent letters with a request to modify their web pages’ content. If they fail to do that, the President of UOKiK can initiate administrative proceedings. If he finds that collective consumer interests have been infringed, the rouge trader can be punished with a fine of up to 10% of its income in the previous year.

For the whole week similar actions were conducted worldwide by consumer rights protection institutions in over 20 countries. The target of the Sweep are traders that betray consumers’ trust using unreliable advertisement and other misleading marketing techniques.

The Internet Sweep Day is an initiative started by ICPEN - International Consumer Protection and Enforcement Network. The annual campaign consists in examining the content of randomly selected websites that come up in search engine results and their assessment in terms of previously defined criteria. The participants of the Sweep are ICPEN members, as well as institutions not connected with it directly.

UOKiK would like to remind consumers that they can obtain legal advice from consumer organisations and local consumer ombudsmen. Useful addresses can be found on the Office’s website.

Additional information:
Małgorzata Cieloch, Spokesperson for UOKiK
Pl. Powstańców Warszawy 1, 00-950 Warsaw
Tel. (+48 22) 827 28 92, 55 60 106, 55 60 314
faks (+ 48 22) 826 11 86
E-mail mcieloch@uokik.gov.pl