"Shame On You: Fake Charity Bracelets

A CBS 2 Special Report

Nov 4, 2004 11:00 pm US/Eastern
NEW YORK (CBS) The yellow rubber wristbands worn by champion cyclists and cancer survivor Lance Armstrong -- bearing his motto ‘Livestrong’ -- have become hugely popular.

But as CBS 2’s Arnold Diaz reports, some are selling bogus bracelets, depriving Armstrong’s charity of much-needed cash.

Armstrong’s charitable foundation has sold 20 million of them online in the past five months for a dollar each. It’s money earmarked to help others battling cancer. It's not just politicians and celebrities wearing them, it's also people like New Jersey resident Dee Scott whose wristband has a special meaning.

""I wear it in memory of my grandmother who passed away from cancer,"" she explains.

That's why she was outraged when she went into a Dollar Plus store in Metuchen recently and saw what she suspected were counterfeit ‘Livestrong’ wristbands.

""At first it looked real and then upon picking it up and inspecting it I realized it was a fake, Scott said, adding ""I was angry, I went home and the first thing that popped into my head was Shame On You.""

So we sent a producer and undercover cameraman into the Dollar Plus store, where the manager assured them were the genuine articles.

""This is the Lance Armstrong bracelet?"" our producer asked. ""Yes, yes,"" the store manager assured.

Not true.

And the imitation wristbands are more orange than yellow. So Diaz confronted the store manager.

""It's a counterfeit bracelet,” Diaz said. “I didn't know that,” the manager said.

He said he asked the company he bought them from if the money went to charity.

“They refused to answer that,” the manager said. “Didn't that raise suspicions in your mind?” Diaz asked. “They told me ‘yes we'll get back to, we'll get back to you,” the manager replied.

He did take the fakes off the rack but he refused to tell me where he got them.

But he's not the only store selling the bogus bracelets. We've discovered stores all over our area are peddling these -- in effect cheating Armstrong's cancer charity.

""Are these those Lance Armstrong bracelets?” Diaz asked a mall vendor. “Yes,” the vendor replied. “They are? So the money goes to charity?” Diaz asked. “A dollar goes, that's what they tell us,"" the vendor said.

The merchant at a kiosk in the Staten Island Mall was charging $2 for Livestrong wristbands in many colors. But the real ones only come in yellow.

“These are counterfeit,” Diaz said. “I didn't know,” the vendor replied. “Well does it say anything about Lance Armstrong on here?” Diaz asked. “It says Livestrong,” the vendor said. “Yeah, but it doesn't say anything about the Lance Armstrong Foundation. “Sorry that's what, in Manhattan, that's what they said,” the vendor said. “Who's they?” Diaz asked. “There's a company in Manhattan that have them,” the vendor answered. “Is that where you get them?” Diaz asked. “Yes,
the vendor said.

It's here on Broadway in the 20's where he said wholesale import shops are selling the knockoffs in large quantities. And there they were, advertised in the window of this store, which had stacks of the bracelets inside -- 12 packs for $6.

Our undercover producer asked if these were the real Armstrong bracelets.

“This is the Lance Armstrong Foundation?” the producer asked. “Yeah,” the vendor said.

""But the money's gonna go to the charity, right?” the producer asked. “Yeah,” the vendor said. “It will?” the producer asked. “Yeah,” the vendor replied.

But again, we could tell from the package they were all counterfeit. So we went back to speak with the vendor.

“Is this the Lance Armstrong bracelet?” Diaz asked. “Yeah,” a woman at the store replied. “No it's not, it's counterfeit,” Diaz said.

“Yeah? I have no idea,” the woman said. “Why do you tell people the money"