Reasons to be cautious over counterfeit goods

YOUR CONSUMER RIGHTS CHAMPION

- Martyn James is a leading consumer rights campaigner, TV and radio broadcaster and journalist

Everyone loves a bargain! However, some of the goods and services that I see on sale - on the internet and the high street - are priced so low they seem too good to be true.

Back in the old days, you might have been approached at a market or in the pub about buying goods that “fell off the back of a van”.

These items were probably acquired through nefarious means, but may well have been genuine.

These days, we face a different kind of problem, because when it comes to some of the biggest online marketplaces and social media sites, you may not be getting “the real deal”.

Counterfeit goods are at best, poor quality, and at worst downright dangerous.

I've reported on food items on TikTok missing information that could result in dire consequences for people with allergies.

I've seen popular toys made with banned chemicals or featuring choking hazards, while Trading Standards have repeatedly warned about dangerous cosmetics, fake weight-loss jabs and teeth-whitening kits with gum-damaging quantities of peroxide.