Shoppers warned of counterfeit goods this Christmas

The warning, from Staffordshire County Council’s Trading Standards team, reminds people that counterfeit items could be offered to them at markets, on social network websites and online.

Counterfeit goods are often poor quality imitations that will leave people out of pocket and could also be harmful to their health.

Legitimate traders also suffer as a result of counterfeit sales, harming the local economy in the process.

WATCH: Trading standards manager on avoiding fake goods

Over the last few years Staffordshire's Trading Standards officers have seized millions of pounds of fake goods.

Popular fakes include clothing, sportswear, headphones, toiletries, cosmetics, children’s toys, alcohol and tobacco.

Tony Shore, trading standards manager at Staffordshire County Council, said: “The run up to Christmas is always a busy time for shoppers and a popular time for market events and online sales events like Black Friday and Cyber Monday. But it’s also a busy time for counterfeiters.

“We’re now reminding people to be on their guard for counterfeit items.

"Fakes are increasingly hard to detect just to look at, so when something is being sold at a knock-down price, people should be extremely wary.

"We always say that if something is too good to be true, it usually is.

“Anyone who buys counterfeit goods will land themselves with poor quality and possibly dangerous goods while helping line criminals’ pockets. We want to protect the public and legitimate business and we will continue our fight against counterfeiters.”

Through the proceeds of crime law, Trading Standards teams has managed to seize assets and money from those successfully prosecuted.

The money is then used to fund local crime fighting operations and to seize more illegal goods.

To avoid counterfeit goods, consumers should also look out for cheap prices, items being sold without packaging and consider where it is being sold.

To report counterfeit goods sales call the anonymous Staffordshire Fight the Fakes line on 01785 330356.

Counterfeit alcohol such as vodka contains dangerous chemicals which can cause many health problems such as blindness, fake perfume can often burn skin or leave a nasty rash and may contain lead, fake sunglasses often offer no UVA protection, causing eye damage, fake tobacco often contains unknown chemicals and counterfeit children's toys can often be unsafe with unsuitable small parts and children's clothes may be inflammable.