Crooks are selling necklaces and UV lights that 'stop coronavirus', trading standards warn

CONMEN are selling items falsely claiming to protect people from coronavirus, trading standards officials have warned.
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UV lights, cards worn around the neck to ‘sterilise the air’ and face coverings are just some of the misleading items found for sale.

Basic face coverings claiming to be made to a ‘KN95’ standard were purchased by officers in 23 high street shops across the south, including Chichester, West Sussex Trading Standards said.

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‘KN95’ is a standard used in China and is not recognised in the UK as providing any form of virus protection.

One of the face masks being sold at stores across the south.One of the face masks being sold at stores across the south.
One of the face masks being sold at stores across the south.

Officers are tracing the supply chain back to the importers and advising the sellers about not stocking products making misleading claims.

Products which allegedly kill 99 per cent of viruses using UV lights have also been found online.

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A trading standards spokesman said: ‘These came in the form of wands that move over surfaces and a box which sterilises items like mobile phones.

One of the face masks being sold at stores across the south.One of the face masks being sold at stores across the south.
One of the face masks being sold at stores across the south.
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‘Officers sent a selection of these products for testing and these claims were shown to be false. In one example the levels of UV emitted were so low it would have taken at least 12 hours to kill 99 per cent of viruses – which the advertising claimed happened in fives minutes.’

A card which claims to ‘sterilise the air’ around the user by emitting chlorine dioxide was also found for sale on UK online platforms by officers.

There is no scientific basis for this.

Peter Aston, trading standards team manager, said: ‘We are working hard to ensure residents looking to protect themselves from Coronavirus are not lured into purchases by false information.

‘All of these products were falsely labelled. Not only would purchasing one of these lead to unnecessary expenditure, it could also make the buyer feel protected from the virus and therefore less likely to take other precautions such as social distancing and frequent hand washing.’

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