Experts warn parents to beware of counterfeit car seats

DENVER — Most scammers go after the grownups. But this story is about keeping your kids safe.

Car seat technicians say they’re seeing a scary trend: More people tricked into buying counterfeit car seats on the internet.

“Every couple months, every two to three months, that’s when I see them the most,” said Fernando San Miguel, a car seat technician at Intermountain Health St. Joseph Hospital in Denver. The hospital offers car seat checks to teach parents about proper installation and how to safely secure their kids in the car.

That includes another counterfeit he spotted just this week, on Thursday. It was a dupe of the popular Doona brand, and he said it wasn’t an easy conversation with the customer who purchased it.

“It was pretty hard. The mom… was not accepting it,” he said. “She spent about $200 on this one. She got it for a lot less than the manufacturer,  it’s like $600 for the brand new one from Doona.”

Like so many other victims of counterfeits, San Miguel said the customer got burned purchasing this latest fake from a third-party website online.

“People don’t know what they’re buying. They think they’re getting a really good deal. But if it sounds too good to be true, it’s probably fake,” he said.

“If you go to a big, you know, name brand store, you know they’re getting it legitimately through the manufacturer. You’re getting a real car seat, not a fake one. Online they can swap or steal the images and copy paste the images from the real brand into the postings online. And then you don’t know what you’re going to get.”

While it’s a growing problem, it’s still not widespread. San Miguel said he’s seen about five fakes in the past year – among the thousands of car seat checks and installations he oversees. He offers a few tips for parents to avoid a counterfeit:

San Miguel said legitimate companies will include the company’s name, website, when the product was made, height and weight limits and expiration information, and it will be spelled correctly with proper grammar. Counterfeit companies will have limited to no warning labels, inaccuracies, and lack critical information about product safety or company information.

San Miguel said the plastic on fake car seats is often a giveaway: far flimsier than the real deal. He said the straps and webbing will feel thinner and cheaper, too.

With the Doona, specifically, he said there is a sticker on the side of the real car seat with the company’s name and logo. The Doona fakes often have some other random symbol (He’s seen several versions).

And its not just counterfeits. Coloradans struggle with the legitimate car seats, too.

“They’re installing them wrong, putting children in wrong. Everything you can think of,” said Colorado State Patrol Trooper Kent Trimbach, with the Colorado Child Passenger Safety Program. He said the car seat “misuse rate” is going up – from 70% in 2022, to 78% in 2023.

“One of the big things is, these car seats change constantly. And just because you knew a car seat from last year doesn’t mean you know it this year.”

Trimbach said too many families prematurely transition their growing child out of a rear-facing car seat, when the kid should stay in there longer. The Child Passenger Safety Program has more than 1,100 car seat technicians across the state to help families install and use car seats correctly.

The program is offering several free car seat inspections this week and weekend, including Saturday.

To find a location for a future inspection, you can visit the program’s website.