In the 21st century, imitation is not the sincerest form of flattery. It is a strategy used by unscrupulous companies to sell substandard products to an unwary public.

Counterfeit devices using stolen intellectual property also damage the standing of reputable brands by providing an inferior user experience. It is a parasitical relationship. They make money by attaching their substandard product to an established brand, and their substandard quality erodes the standing of the brand they are copying. Customers lose when they think they are buying a reputable vape product and end up with a counterfeit vape of dubious origin. 

This was previously an issue with the popular Elf Bar disposable vape. Visit our feature "How to Spot a Fake Elf Bar" for information on avoiding EBCREATE and Elf Bar lookalikes. 

The easiest way to avoid a fake Flum Pebble is to buy a Flum Pebble directly from a master distributor like MiPod. Check out our Flum Pebble Collection for the freshest and best inventory of Flum disposable devices. 

Real versus Fake Disposable Vapes

The manufacturer of the popular Flum Pebble, also makers of the UT Bar, are the victims of imitation products. 

How to Tell if a Flum is Fake

 The differences are a bit more subtle when looking at the packaging, not as stark as a letter in the wrong place, but there are indicators that a Flum product is counterfeit. 

There are four basic ways to tell a Flum Pebble from a counterfeit knock-off. 

• Verify your Flum Pebble is real with the QR Code. 
• Verify your Flum Pebble is real at Flumgio.com. Any other website is fake!
• Multi-packs use poorly applied plastic wraps. 
• The device wrapper is more easily wrinkled and cheap on the imitation.
• The watermark paper inside the box of a real Flum Pebble is three layers. It is only one layer in a fake. 
• The mouthpiece stopper is ill-fitting in a fake Flum Pebble. 
• There is an airplane logo next to the airflow hole on a real Flum Pebble. 
• Note the visual differences between devices. Fake Flum Pebbles are lighter in color, lack proper sealing at the mouthpiece, and lack aircraft marking (see image below). 
• There are also differences beneath the skin, a counterfeit Flum Pebble lacks battery protection and short-circuit protection. 
• Fake Flum Pebbles user smaller and used/recycled batteries, so they contain a metal ballast to make up the weight difference. 

Flum Pebble Product Verification

If you already have a Flum, the easiest way to verify its authenticity is to visit https://flumgio.com/verify/ or click here to visit the verify website. This may seem simple enough, except the counterfeit companies have created very similar verification websites with plausible Flum based names for their domain. FLUMGIO.com is the one and only correct Flum product verification website, FLUMGIOS is used to perpetrate a fraud on consumers. 

You can also avoid counterfeits by purchasing all of your vaping products from trusted retailers. Mi-Pod is a master distributor for Flum disposable vapes, meaning we have the freshest inventory and also are obtaining products directly from the manufacturer.

The Mi-Pod Store Locator has a filter function that allows you search businesses in your area by brand. This is an easy way to locate a store carrying authentic Flum products from a business that purchases products directly from a master distributor. 

Fake Flum Packaging

If you still have the box for your Flum, and no certified real Flum Pebbles to compare the colors to, an easy way to tell difference is the watermark paper within the box. It is triple layer for the Flum Pebble and but a single layer for a fake Flum. 

The wrapper that holds a fake Flum Pebble is much cheaper and more easily wrinkled than the wrap of a real one. 

Fake Flum Pebble Device

How close the appearance of a fake Flum Pebble matches a real one is a bit unsettling. But these similarities are barely skin deep. There are huge discrepancies in flavor and performance. If undetected, they may lead the consumer to think that Flum is now making substandard devices. In reality, the issue is that fake Flums have been decontented and use inferior parts in order to undercut the price of a standard Flum Pebble. 

Note the ill-fitting stopper on the fake Flum Pebble below. There is also no "airplane" icon next to the airflow hole. More damaging to the user is a lack of a safety chip to prevent short circuits and regulate performance. This chip is visible below the e-liquid reservoir. The battery in a fake Flum Pebble is smaller, and made from used or recycled batteries. It is more prone to failure, provides less power, and also weighs less. To cover this difference, fake Flum Pebbles have ballast added in the form of a metal ball. 

Fake Flum versus Real Flum Performance

A skeptic may wonder how much it matters if their Flum Pebble is real or fake, provided it delivers the advertised nicotine and a flavor roughly equivalent.

But there are several major issues with fake Flum Pebbles apart from basic performance. The makers of counterfeit Flum Pebbles have not cracked some secret code that allows them to make high quality disposable vape devices at a lower price point. They cut corners and have an inferior product designed to look like a real name-brand Flum. 

• Fake Flum Pebbles use low-quality, reused batteries. This means they do not have the same power to support typical vape usage as a regular battery. 

• Low quality batteries are also more likely to fail, making the entire exercise a waste of money and possibly a fire hazard. 
• Fake Flum Pebbles have no safety chip. The safety chip is installed to avoid overcharging, prevent short circuits.
• The lack of a chip impacts performance, as these control the output of the battery. And unregulated battery will not provide consistent output from start to finish, meaning the performance will spike and rapidly fall off as the charge runs down. 
• E-Liquid is not made to the same quality standard. If you were to break open a counterfeit Flum Pebble and compare the contents a real one, you would find a darker e-liquid with lower quality ingredients. The e-liquids are simply not the porprietary Flum formulas. They do not taste the same and without quality assurance standards there is no accounting for the nicotine strength or origin either.  

Flum Wholesale 

If you are a wholesaler or sell Flum retail, the easiest way to avoid counterfeits is to buy your products directly from Mi-Pod Wholesale. If you are not currently a Mi-Pod customer you can register at the link below. 

• Register as Vape Wholesaler Here

Fake Flum Wholesale Packaging

In the event you have already purchased Flum Pebbles that you are suspicious of, Flum has provided images that compare their packaging to the rampant and inferior counterfeits. 

 The differences are subtle but the coloring and quality of the plastic is clearly different.