Gdf, crackdown on illegal sites and made in Italy. Over 1.5 billion counterfeit products seized in the first five months

The Guardia di Finanza has intensified its fight against illegal trafficking and counterfeiting of Italian-made products. And the focus in these first five months of 2025 has also been redoubled on illegal online sites, which represent a growing threat to the legal economy and consumer safety. Law enforcement activity has also passed through the '117' service, which has been strengthened thanks to operational, training and technical-logistical interventions, to ensure a timely response to reports, including anonymous ones, from citizens and to strengthen the presence of patrols in the area and naval vessels.

In the area of goods and services market protection alone, the Guardia di Finanza, which celebrates the 251st anniversary of its foundation on 20 June, reported that it concluded 17,651 interventions, developed 4,216 proxies from the judicial authorities, and denounced 6,064 subjects. These operations led to the seizure of more than one and a half billion counterfeit products, often with false Made in Italy indications, unsafe or in violation of copyright laws. On the agri-foodstuffs front, more than 1.1 million litres of counterfeit products - mainly wines, sparkling wines and olive oil - with forged industrial brands, misleading indications or subject to commercial fraud were seized.

The other hot front in the fight against fakes was the fight against 'pezzotto', the now widespread system for illegal viewing of paid content via streaming. The fight against digital piracy and the dissemination of illegal editorial content on the web achieved unprecedented results: as many as 77,212 websites were obscured or seized, many of which were used to market counterfeit and unsafe products via online shop windows. These interventions hit platforms that illegally offered copyrighted content, such as films, magazines and newspapers, and were often hosted on foreign servers to evade the controls of the Italian authorities.

The Guardia di Finanza's operations not only protect honest businesses and the value of 'Made in Italy' products, but also protect consumers from the risks of buying unsafe or counterfeit products. The counterfeit market, in fact, fuels illegal work, tax evasion and may have links with organised crime, as well as representing a real danger to health.