Bogus condoms a Trojan horse
BY KERRY BURKE and DAVE GOLDINER
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
Wednesday, May 30th 2007, 4:00 AM
It is one of the strangest cases of buyer beware - fake Trojan Magnum condoms are flooding bodegas in Harlem.
The counterfeit condoms have been sold for weeks at corner delis and groceries, even though the condom-maker has tried to stamp out the practice.
The packaging looks identical to the real thing, but the imitations come in flimsy plastic wrap instead of the sturdier aluminum foil that surrounds authentic Magnums.
The fakes are smaller than the real thing and have a sweet perfume smell that the originals don't.
"It's not right, but what can you do about it?" said Badu Sall, 22, of Harlem. "When you need condoms quick, you buy them where you can."
The Daily News had no trouble finding the apparently bogus rubbers in several delis uptown.
"I use that brand. It's crazy," said Fotupapa Lo, 34, a barber from Harlem. "The ones I use are not that small - and they don't smell funny."
The manufacturer said it has moved aggressively to prevent stores from selling counterfeit rubbers and to buy from reputable suppliers.
"We urge consumers to buy Magnum brand condoms from trusted retailers," parent company Church & Dwight said in a statement released yesterday. "We cannot vouch for the safety and efficacy of counterfeit products."
Bodega owner Sallah Alqublani insisted he cleared all the fake condoms off his shelves after being notified by the maker of Trojans.
Still, the condoms he sold at the Star Deli on W. 116th St. yesterday showed telltale signs of being phonies.
"I had no idea," Alqublani, 31, said. "We took everything down and bought new stuff."
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