NRF updates 'buyer beware' product list

The National Retail Federation has added new products to a consumer alert about common household items being sold through some online auction sites, warning that these items could be stolen or tainted, posing health risks to consumers. NRF's warning comes in advance of a Congressional hearing this Thursday about organized retail crime.

"Though retailers suffer billions of dollars in losses each year from organized retail crime, they are not the only group who's hurt," said Joe LaRocca, NRF senior asset protection advisor. "Most stolen merchandise is not stored properly and could expose unsuspecting shoppers or their children to a host of risks from spoiled baby formula and pain medication to inaccurate results from diabetic test strips or pregnancy tests."

According to NRF, organized retail crime groups often steal thousands of dollars of popular, consumable goods at a time with the intent to resell them for profit. In addition to the health risks caused by tainted merchandise, shoppers are left with no way to ensure they are getting the quality they paid for. NRF recommends that shoppers only buy health and beauty items from reputable sources they know and trust, such as legitimate retail stores or websites.

Organized retail crime investigators from a variety of the nation's largest retailers have identified these items as the most popular health and beauty products stolen and resold by criminals:

• Abreva
• Advil
• Aleve
• Alli weight loss pills
• Benadryl
• Braun toothbrushes & replacement heads
• Bumble and Bumble
• Claritin
• Cover Girl cosmetics
• Crest Whitestrips
• diabetic testing strips
• e.p.t. pregnancy tests
• Gillette Fusion Razors and replacement cartridges
• Gillette MACH3, Venus and Sensor razors and refill cartridges
• Lotrimin
• Matrix
• Nicorette
• Oil of Olay
• Oral B replacement heads
• Pepcid AC
• Prilosec
• Primatene
• Pureology
• RoC
• Rogaine
• Similac
• Sudafed
• Schick Quattro razors and all Schick refill cartridges
• Sonicare replacement heads
• Tylenol Extra Strength
• Visine
• Zantac

For information about the dangers of using expired or improperly stored medication, visit the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

NRF also added specific electronics and food items to the list, including:

• High-end liquor
• Cigarettes
• Red Bull energy drinks
• Blu-ray movies and player
• Braun electric razors
• Dyson vacuums

As the issue of organized retail crime has become more prominent, local and federal law enforcement has begun to crack down more heavily on criminals accused of stealing large quantities of merchandise in stores and reselling it online. However, NRF believes federal legislation is needed to assist law enforcement and prosecutors in their efforts.

"While retailers will continue to invest billions of dollars trying to prevent organized retail crime and apprehend and prosecute the perpetrators, this epidemic cannot be solved by fighting these cases solely in the shopping aisles," said LaRocca. "New federal laws will make organized retail crime part of our federal criminal statutes, giving law enforcement officers and prosecutors the tools they need to put these criminals behind bars."