Temu and AliExpress are selling the cheapest V-16 beacons on the market. And it’s very easy to know if it’s a scam.

There are 44 days left until the connected V-16 beacon becomes mandatory in our country. There are, in fact, 43 days left if you are reading this on November 18, 2025. And I don’t want to burden anyone but there is obviously less room for maneuver with each passing day.

We already know about the “evil of many…” but I will tell you a secret: if you are about to buy the beacon, you are by no means the only one in that position. Obviously, this has caused sales of the device to skyrocket. And with it have come the offers and, of course, the doubts about whether we are buying a valid product or not.

Neither the DGT nor the consumer associations have helped with the doubts. And, on the market, there are V-16 beacons but not all of them are valid. Despite everything, you can find specific offers and bargains by finding this product, even below 10 euros.

Therefore, we are going to explain how we can check whether or not we are facing a scam.

Is it a scam?

To understand why so much confusion must be taken into account that the approval of having to mount a V-16 beacon on the car It closed in 2021. Then the DGT decided that this device would replace the emergency lights and V-16 beacons began to arrive on the market.

In 2022, however, it was confirmed that only V-16 beacons that could be used would be valid. contact DGT 3.0. They are called “V-16 connected beacons”, those that have a SIM card inside and that must guarantee connectivity for 12 years. That is, all V-16 beacons without connectivity (mainly sold before 2022) are not valid.

This regulatory change is what has led consumer associations like the OCU to affirm that a connected V-16 beacon, the only valid one, “rarely goes below 40 euros.” But this is not entirely true. First, because it is very easy to find approved V-16 beacons for about 30 euros. Second, because there are real bargains that allow us to buy this device for less than even 10 euros.

With that price it is logical to think that we could be facing a scam. Or, simply, that we are buying a V-16 beacon without realizing that they lack that connectivity that is essential for approval.

The doubts multiply because Temu either AliExpress They offer beacons well below the 40 euros floor price recommended by the OCU. Pages specialized in discounts, such as Chollometer also offers aggressive discounts on some V-16 beacons.

Do you want one for 9.99 euros? Yes. And it’s not a scam.

Not, at least, in all cases.

It’s all in the certificate number

With a month and a half left before the new regulations come into force, there is not a day on pages like Aliexpress, Temu or Chollómetro in which a V-16 beacon is not offered at ridiculous prices. We give you some examples:

The two previous beacons are sold on AliExpress at an almost absurd price. Of course, the fact that they can be purchased for just over two and four euros should make us suspicious. And indeed, none of the above options are valid. In fact, in the product rating of one of them, there is a comment specifying that they do not have connectivity.

However, let’s look at another case.

The above case explains well how we can find a connected and completely valid V-16 beacon at a very low price. The connected V-16 beacon shown above is an offer that we have found on Chollometro, a website from which it is redirected to Temu where it is noted that the price of the beacon is 59.99 euros but that it is on sale for 29.98 euros. As if that were not enough, it is possible to buy it (red box) for 9.99 euros.

The price should make us suspicious. But we go to the product description where it is mentioned that it has IP54 water resistance, it is promised that it is connected to DGT 3.0, which meets all the approvals… and its certificate is shown: IDIADA PC25060196.

The latter is especially important because it is the data that certifies whether or not the connected V-16 beacon that we are purchasing is fake or meets the required requirements or not. To check it, let’s go to the DGT page.

In this linkTraffic lists each and every one of the approved devices. We can filter the list by the date of approval, by the name of the manufacturer, the name of the product… and very importantly, the certificate number of all the products that we can even download is shown. In addition, it has a search engine, as we see in the following image.

It is enough to enter the certificate number, it is not even necessary to specify IDIADA or LCOE (the two laboratories that approve this product in Spain), to confirm that the V-16 beacon that we want to buy has all the technical requirements, including its manufacturer, the name of the exact model and when and where the approval was certified.

In the case of the previous connected V-16 beacon, we are talking about a product certified, indeed, by IDIADA. It was homologated on June 30, 2025, the exact model name is V16 Beacon Light IoT CH-020L, sold under the Raykong brand and homologation requested by Limburg Technology Limited. Below we leave you the image in which this information is shown and the certificate that the DGT attaches with this data.

As we have seen, before purchasing the V-16 beacon it is easy to check whether we are purchasing a product approved by the DGT or not. In those offered by AliExpress, in no case is it specified that they are V-16 beacons connected with DGT 3.0 but, above all, no certificate number is specified that allows us to verify that an approved product is being sold.

Despite everything, it is also recommended that, once we receive the beacon, we check that it has the serial number of the certificate (it must be printed on it), essential to verify that the V-16 beacon that we have purchased connects to DGT 3.0 and has all the required technical requirements.

That is, the price can be a first indication of whether we are facing a scam (like the first case, where it is mentioned on AliExpress that we are buying a “DGT Approved V16 Emergency Light”) or if we are buying a V16 beacon without connectivity (as seems to be the second case). But it is not infallible either since we may be faced with a specific offer with a very low price (as is the third case, the one sold by Temu).

The only thing we can do to verify that we are not being scammed and we are buying a really valid connected V-16 beacon is to go to this link on the DGT website, enter the certificate number in the search engine and verify first-hand that the emergency light offered has really been approved by Traffic and certified by one of the only two laboratories that are allowed to confirm this type of approvals.

Photo | AliExpress and Geobeacon

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