Counterfeit Products in the UAE: The Law, Dubai Police Warnings and Your Rights

Counterfeit goods circulate wherever money moves quickly — market stalls, social-media shops, messaging-app resellers, and listings promising a famous brand at a tenth of its price. Dubai Police issue warnings about them regularly, and those warnings are not aimed only at the people manufacturing fakes. The law behind them was rewritten in 2023, and it reaches further than most casual resellers — and some buyers — realise.

Direct answer. Dealing in counterfeit products — importing, selling, displaying, storing, promoting or possessing them for the purpose of selling — is a crime in the UAE under Federal Decree-Law No. 42 of 2023 Concerning Anti-Commercial Fraud, punishable by imprisonment of up to two years and/or a fine of AED 5,000 to AED 1,000,000, and the fine rises to AED 100,000–2,000,000 where the goods endanger health or are medicines, agricultural crops or organic food (Articles 17 and 18 of the law; see the text on the UAE Legislation portal). Dubai Police's Anti-Economic Crimes Department has warned that promoting counterfeit goods, including on social media, is a prosecutable offence, and asks the public to report it through the eCrime platform or on 901. A buyer who was deceived is entitled to a refund or an exchange from the seller under Article 7 of the same law.

Which law governs counterfeit products in the UAE

One federal law now anchors the whole subject, and two others operate alongside it.

The anchor is Federal Decree-Law No. 42 of 2023 Concerning Anti-Commercial Fraud, issued on 28 September 2023. Its Article 24 expressly repealed the previous statute, Federal Law No. 19 of 2016 — so if you find guidance online still citing the 2016 law as current, it is out of date. The 2023 law defines counterfeit goods precisely: goods which bear, without permission, a trademark identical or similar to a legally registered trademark (Article 1). It also defines the wider category of fraudulent goods — anything altered in essence, quantity, origin or source, or advertised in a way that contradicts its reality. Critically, Article 3 applies the law to anyone who deals in commercial fraud anywhere in the State, including free zones.

Two companion laws matter:

• Federal Decree-Law No. 36 of 2021 on Trademarks — the intellectual-property side. It criminalises forging or counterfeiting a registered mark, and separately criminalises knowingly selling or possessing for sale goods that carry one.
• Federal Law No. 15 of 2020 on Consumer Protection, as amended — the consumer side, listed with the complaint channels on the UAE Government portal's consumer protection page. It obliges suppliers to repair, replace or refund defective products.

Which law the authorities reach for depends on who is complaining: a deceived consumer, a trademark owner, or an inspector who found a container of fakes.

Selling counterfeits: what exactly is prohibited

The prohibition is written to cover the entire supply chain, not just the moment of sale.

Article 4 of the Anti-Commercial Fraud Law prohibits importing, exporting, producing, manufacturing, displaying, selling, storing, transporting, marketing, trading, promoting, disposing of, or possessing counterfeit goods for the purpose of selling — and it prohibits attempting any of those acts. The article then lists the violations in detail, and two of them matter enormously in the social-media age:

• Possession, personally or through an intermediary, for the purpose of marketing, trading, promoting or offering for sale.
• Describing, advertising or displaying goods in a manner that contains false, deceptive or misleading data.

That second limb is why "I only posted the listing" is not a defence. The person who advertises a fake — on a marketplace, in a story, in a group chat — is inside the prohibition even if someone else holds the stock. Packing, wrapping, distributing, storing and transporting counterfeit goods are each listed acts too, so warehouse and delivery roles are not neutral. Whether a specific arrangement crosses the line is exactly the kind of question to put to a lawyer before, not after, a shipment moves — our guide to criminal defence and arrest rights in the UAE explains what happens once a matter reaches the police.

The penalties for dealing in counterfeit goods

The base penalty is already severe, and three multipliers sit on top of it.

Under Article 17 of Federal Decree-Law No. 42 of 2023, violating the counterfeit-goods prohibitions carries imprisonment of up to two years and/or a fine between AED 5,000 and AED 1,000,000. Article 18 raises the fine band to AED 100,000–2,000,000 — alongside imprisonment — in three situations: where counterfeit weights, measures, seals or labels were used; where the goods are harmful to the health and safety of humans or animals; and where the goods are medical drugs, agricultural crops or organic food products. A fake perfume is a crime; a fake medicine is a far more expensive one.

The court's toolbox does not stop at the fine. Under Article 19 it must order confiscation or destruction of the goods and the tools used, may order the shop closed for up to six months, and orders a summary of the conviction published in two local daily newspapers at the convict's expense. Under Article 21, reoffending within five years doubles the penalty and allows closure for up to a year. Article 20 extends liability to the person actually managing a company that committed the violation, where they knew and failed to act.

The Trademarks Law adds its own track. Article 49 of Federal Decree-Law No. 36 of 2021 punishes forging or counterfeiting a registered trademark, or knowingly using one commercially, with imprisonment and/or a fine of AED 100,000 to AED 1,000,000. Article 50 punishes anyone who knowingly sells, offers for sale, or possesses with intent to sell goods carrying a forged or imitated mark with imprisonment of up to one year and/or a fine of AED 50,000 to AED 200,000. Both laws state they apply without prejudice to any severer penalty in other legislation, so charges can stack. Where the conduct is charged, it is prosecuted as a criminal offence — typically a misdemeanour — before the criminal courts, not settled as a private dispute.

Is buying counterfeit products illegal in the UAE?

The criminal provisions target the supply chain — but a knowing buyer is not entirely outside the law's reach.

Article 4 criminalises possession for the purpose of selling, not possession for personal use. So the tourist who bought one imitation bag is not the person Articles 17 and 18 were written for. Three qualifications matter, though. First, Article 6(1) says the seller is not excused from punishment even if the buyer knew the goods were fake — "the customer knew what they were getting" is no defence for the provider. Second, Article 6(2) allows the law's Executive Regulation to impose an administrative fine on the customer where the counterfeit or fraudulent goods are harmful to human or animal health and the customer is proven to have known — knowingly buying fake medicines is not treated as harmless bargain-hunting. Third, the moment a buyer resells, promotes or holds stock to sell, they have crossed into the criminal provisions above, including Article 50 of the Trademarks Law.

The practical rule is simple: buying fakes for personal use is not listed among the crimes, but it earns no protection either, and buying-to-resell is a prosecutable offence. The exact administrative fine that may apply to a knowing buyer of health-harmful counterfeits is set by the Executive Regulation of the Anti-Commercial Fraud Law and can change; confirm the current position with the Ministry of Economy or a licensed UAE lawyer.

The Dubai Police counterfeit products warning: what it says

The recurring Dubai Police counterfeit products warning is aimed squarely at social-media promotion — and at the young people recruited into it.

Dubai Police's Anti-Economic Crimes Department has warned publicly against advertising counterfeit goods on social media platforms, noting that some users — particularly younger ones — treat promoting fake watches, perfumes, clothing and accessories online as a harmless side income. The force's message is that this activity violates the UAE's trademark and anti-fraud legislation and can lead to prosecution, and that fake commercial accounts deliberately recruit individuals to promote counterfeit stock through their personal accounts. Dubai Police ask the public to report such activity through the eCrime platform or by calling 901.

Read the warning together with the statutes above and its logic is obvious: promotion and advertising are themselves listed violations under Article 4 of the Anti-Commercial Fraud Law, and knowingly offering counterfeit goods for sale is an offence under Article 50 of the Trademarks Law. The person fronting the listing carries legal exposure even if they never touch the goods. If an account you run has been used to promote products you now suspect are fake, stop the promotion, keep the correspondence, and take advice early rather than waiting for a summons.

Your rights if you were sold a counterfeit product

A deceived buyer has a statutory right to their money back — and the law says so directly.

Article 7 of the Anti-Commercial Fraud Law obliges the provider to refund the value of fraudulent, spoilt or counterfeit goods, or to exchange or replace them according to the wish of the bona fide customer — and this is expressly without prejudice to the customer's right to claim compensation. The Consumer Protection Law reinforces the same position for defective goods: the UAE Government portal records the supplier's obligation to repair or replace a defective product without charge. If the fake product caused actual harm — a burn from a counterfeit charger, a reaction to fake cosmetics — the compensation claim for damages runs on top of the refund, and our guide to personal injury claims in the UAE covers how such claims are brought.

Your position is strongest with evidence, so preserve:

• The receipt, invoice, order confirmation or transfer record.
• The listing, advertisement or chat in which the product was described.
• The product itself, its packaging and any tags — do not discard them.
• Any expert or brand-service assessment saying the item is not genuine.

We answer the most common first question — what you can actually do the day you discover the fake — in our Q&A on your rights when sold a counterfeit product.

How to report counterfeit products in the UAE

Pick the channel by what you want: your money back, the seller investigated, or both.

• Consumer complaint (refund/exchange): the Ministry of Economy's Consumer Protection Department receives complaints nationwide — the UAE Government portal lists its call centre on 800 1222 — and each emirate's economic department handles local complaints; in Dubai that is the Department of Economy and Tourism's consumer complaint service.
• Criminal report (fake goods, scam accounts, social-media promotion): Dubai Police through the eCrime platform or on 901, per the force's own published warning; in other emirates, the local police force.
• Trademark owner route: the brand owner can file its own trademark-infringement complaint, which typically triggers inspection and seizure — relevant if you are a business finding fakes of your own product.

What happens after a report is filed is set by the law itself. Judicial enforcement officers may enter shops, stores and warehouses, inspect records and seize suspicious goods (Article 10). The provider must recall fraudulent, spoilt or counterfeit goods from the market, with recall, destruction and return costs falling on the provider (Article 5) — the exact withdrawal window is set by the law's Executive Regulation and can change; confirm the current period with the Ministry of Economy or a licensed UAE lawyer. The Ministry or the competent authority may accept reconciliation in exchange for paying at least twice the minimum applicable fine (Article 22), and a trader who disputes an administrative decision may file a written grievance within fifteen working days, with a further appeal to the competent court within thirty working days of a rejection (Article 23).

What to do now

Move in the order that preserves your evidence and your deadlines.

1. Stop using the product — especially anything ingested, applied to skin, or electrical.
2. Gather the receipt, the listing, the chats and the product itself before anything is deleted.
3. Ask the seller in writing for a refund or exchange, citing your right under Article 7 of the Anti-Commercial Fraud Law.
4. If the seller refuses or vanishes, file the consumer complaint (Ministry of Economy on 800 1222, or your emirate's economic department) and, where the selling looks organised or online, report it to the police.
5. If you are the one accused — a seized shipment, a summons over a listing, a marketplace account flagged — treat it as a criminal matter from day one.

Counterfeit cases move on two clocks at once: the consumer track is quick and administrative, while the criminal track carries custodial exposure and short grievance windows. If you are facing either side of one, you can find and compare verified UAE criminal lawyers on LEXAI and contact one directly. LEXAI lists and verifies lawyers; you engage and pay the lawyer directly, off-platform, on terms you agree with them. You can also use our AI legal assistant to understand the process in plain language before you make the call.

This article is general information about UAE law on counterfeit products. It is not legal advice on your situation.