A man in Bidor, Malaysia, has been arrested for selling fake goods online.

His first-floor shophouse premises were raided by officers from the Perak branch of the Domestic Trade, Co-Operatives and Consumerism Ministry on Friday, with 792 items worth RM284,350 (US$73,000) seized, including bags, belts and shirts.

The ministry’s state deputy-director Mohd Khalis Kasim says the branded items – mostly brought in from Hong Kong – were being sold through Facebook at prices ranging from RM100 to thousands of ringgit.

“We had seen photographs of watches and shoes on the webpage, but couldn’t find them at the shop,” he told reporters, saying it was the first such case in the state. A room at the premises had been set up for photography, and the man had been selling for about six months.

“The items even came with forged certificates of authenticity. The quality was not good and had defects all over,” says Khalis.

The man, in his 20s, was working on his own and also sought to employ agents to sell the goods, asking those interested to pay RM15,000 as deposit.

Most of his customers were from Malaysia and Singapore, with payments made through online banking.