Dozens of Harry Potter wands were among millions of pounds worth of Christmas presents seized by border police as part of a crackdown on fake goods, the government has announced. A haul of 8,000 bottles of falsely branded perfume was also confiscated, as well as 3,000 cuddly toys, 137 Louis Vuitton bags and 941 pairs of Nike Air Max trainers. Border police at air and sea ports as well as post offices take imported goods if they are counterfeit, banned or if the correct tax has not been paid, the Home Office explained. In just six days during December a massive 83,000 items were seized at airports with a total retail value of £3.5m. Other counterfeit items taken by border police in the run up to Christmas included: 18,000 counterfeit bottles of Paco Rabanne and Jean- Paul Gaultier perfume worth approximately £700,000 900 fake Burberry scarves worth approximately £200,000 750 fake Beats Pill portable speakers and 750 counterfeit Beats headphones estimated to be worth more than £325,000

100 Harry Potter wands and 3,000 counterfeit Pokemon, Nintendo and Minecraft cuddly toys worth approximately £65,000 137 fake Louis Vuitton handbags estimated to be worth more than £109,600 300 fake Sony Playstation PS3 controllers worth approximately £15,000 941 pairs of fake Nike Air Max trainers estimated to be worth more than £94,100top ten soccer shoes 2014 Immigration minister Robert Goodwill said: “The international trade in counterfeit goods undercuts honest traders, and is linked to serious and organised crime, sweatshop working practices, child labour, and even the funding of terrorism.nike shoes and price in india “Unsuspecting customers are also left out of pocket with inferior and potentially dangerous goods.nike shoes uk online sale

“We are determined to crack down on this criminality and Border Force officers help protect consumers by working around the clock at ports, airports and mail sorting centres identifying and seizing counterfeit goods.” Goods identified as fake are destroyed and the companies whose branding has been ripped off have the option to privately prosecute importers.Want to read Slashdot from your mobile device? strong For $25 - Add A Second Phone Number To Your Smartphone for life! Use promo code SLASHDOT25. Also, Slashdot's Facebook page has a chat bot now. Message it for stories and more. Check out the new SourceForge HTML5 Internet speed test!strong Amazon Loses Huge Footwear Company Because Of Fake Products, a Problem It Denies Is Happening Several sellers on Amazon had noted earlier this month that the platform is riddled with counterfeit products and that things have gotten worse after Chinese manufacturers were allowed to sell goods to the consumers in the United States.

Amid the report, the German footwear company Birkenstock has announced it will no longer sell its sandals on Amazon. The company added that it will also ban any sales of its products by third-party sellers on Amazon, effectively making its products unavailable on the world's largest online store, according to a report on CNBC. From the report: "The Amazon marketplace, which operates as an 'open market,' creates an environment where we experience unacceptable business practices which we believe jeopardize our brand," Birkenstock USA CEO David Kahan wrote from the company's U.S. headquarters in Novato, California. " Register for a free account K’LEKT is an official partner of PayPal and we’re using PayPal Payments for all transactions within our marketplace. With PayPal, you are protected from checkout to delivery. None of your financial information is ever given to sellers and if something goes wrong with your order, your eligible transactions will be fully reimbursed.

PayPal Purchase Protection covers all of your K’LEKT purchases. You have to open a PayPal dispute within 180 days of payment to initiate the Purchase Protection process. This is our brand-new checkout design. Enjoy the improved experience with a better overview and more control!Home plus, the Korean arm of U.K. retail giant Tesco, is facing a barrage of criticism for selling fake Nike shoes and refusing to give a refund. According to SBS News, a customer surnamed Lee purchased a 99,000 won ($90) pair of running shoes from the Home plus’s online shopping mall in September last year. The sewing was too sloppy to be authentic and Lee demanded a refund. Three months later, he received a confirmation from Nike that what he bought for his daughter were fake. In 2013, the court declined to find Gmarket at fault even though consumers bought fake Adidas shoes from the online marketplace owned by eBay. In 2008, a customer who bought fake K-2 brand shoes also lost his compensation claim against Interpark, a major online shopping mall.

In both cases, the court ruled that online retailers do not have to compensate consumers if they were unaware that their suppliers were providing counterfeit products. Home plus still refused to give a refund, claiming that the supplier of Nike shoes should take responsibility. Oh Kwang-kyoon, a lawyer at the Green Consumer Network in Korea, said in a statement that Home plus should take responsibility for blindly pursuing profits. “It happened because they did not pay attention to the voice of consumers,” he said. The lawyer also called for a thorough investigation into the case and a strong punishment against those responsible for it. The Korea Observer repeatedly asked for an explanation from Home plus since Wednesday morning, but Home plus has yet to reply. Do you know of any other stores selling fake designer products? If so, get in contact with The Korea Observer. Kang Hyun-hye, intern reporter, contributed to this story.Crooks are making a fortune flogging fake designer gear on Facebook, a Sunday People ­investigation has discovered.

Shameless scammers are brazenly ­advertising bent wares in a modern twist on the crooked market stall. Complaints about the sale of knock-off goods on the popular social networking site have soared 400 per cent since 2010, a new report reveals. And its authors believe these ­complaints are the tip of the iceberg. They fear a lack of funding for investigators combined with sellers’ ability to hide online, mean stemming the tide of countefeits will be a struggle. Last week, the Sunday People joined police and council trading standards officers on an early morning raid on a housing estate in Stafford, Staffs. They were acting on a tip-off from ­designer label Michael Kors, which ­suspected fake handbags were being sold from the end-of-terrace home. The culprit’s Facebook page also ­advertised fake Omega and Rolex watches for £45 each, Mac make-up bags for £20 and Beats wireless headphones for £40. He was also offering bogus gold and white Nike Air Max ­trainers for £45 and smart North Face jackets at £35.

During the hour-long dawn raid, investigators seized dozens of boxed trainers, perfumes ­believed to be fake as well as laptops and mobile phones. The suspect’s business seemed to be booming as he had also used a Facebook post to advertise a vacancy for someone to join the two ­people who already worked for him. Officers also found a bundle of at least a dozen Post Office receipts believed to show where the dodgy goods had been posted to. The man was later arrested at his home and immediately bailed. Staffordshire trading standards investigator Nigel Cotton said they receive an average of one tip-off a week about someone selling fakes through Facebook. But he admitted: “The whole ­investigation process is quite difficult for us. It tends to be an anonymous tip-off about someone selling clear fakes. “We obtained the ­warrant from the court after Michael Kors’ investigation team asked if we could have a look at fake handbags.” He said trading standards ­did not have the resources to investigate every case since crooked market stall traders had left the High Street and moved online.

He said: “Sometimes we send out a warning letter telling them not to do it – or else. If the industry comes to us we at least take them (the culprits) out and disrupt their operation. “In the past 18 months Facebook has become the biggest market place for counterfeit goods. Clothing and perfume has all gone online.” Forty investigations are underway into the biggest dealers as part of Operation Jasper. Mike Andrews, of the National Trading Standards eCrime team,warned there was a sinister side to the thousands of people selling through social media. He said: “People might think they are buying a bargain from a chap down the road who has some goods to sell. But ultimately the people behind shipping in these goods in bulk are organised gangs and the money filters through to activities like ­prostitution, guns and drugs.” Last summer, officers from 63 councils around the country ordered counterfeiters to remove thousands of listings and take down at least 20 Facebook profiles.

More than 200 warning letters were issued and dozens of cease and desist ­letters were delivered to the homes of ­offenders using Facebook to peddle their illegal wares. The crackdown followed Operation Watch, which saw 250 traders forced to remove more than 5,000 listings of ­suspected fakes. Acting Counterfeiting Group Director of Operations Alison Statham said: “Facebook is being used by hundreds of counterfeiters to sell a whole range of sub-standard products, some of which are dangerous, to consumers.” A report to Parliament, compiled by trading standards officers representing 22 local authorities, out this month, revealed: “Since 2010/11 the number of complaints have increased from 1,314 to 6,566, ­representing an increase of 400 per cent in five years.” But it believed under- ­reporting of offenders may keep even that number artificially low. The report said: “This is because the majority of Facebook accounts consist of ‘friends’ from a ­community or location.

Therefore they are often ­reluctant to ­report criminality due to their ­relationships within the group and the associated fear of being identified as the informant.” Bootleg DVDs sold on Facebook are also big business with criminal gangs. The new Star Wars and James Bond flicks are available on Facebook for £1 – months before their release. Facebook’s local selling ­pages are used to brazenly ­distribute pirate copies of the ­blockbusters. Star Wars: The Force Awakens is not due out on DVD until April and will cost £9.99 or £15.99 for the two-disc ­version. Daniel Craig’s latest outing as 007 in Spectre is out in March and will be a similar price. Local selling pages also offer cut-price gear such as Michael Kors and Louis Vuitton bags and purses for as little as £25 or designer Lacoste or Ralph Lauren shirts for £15. Unlike online auction house eBay, Facebook listings are free and can be set up with an ­unregistered mobile phone. Buyers place their orders and the fraudsters will often offer home delivery or ­arrange to meet in a local pub car park to hand over purchases.

But trading standards ­officers have warned that counterfeit electrical goods, such as fake GHD hair straighteners and ­hairdryers can be unsafe and could even kill or cause fires. Bogus designer perfume is often mixed with horse urine to give it the ­desired ­colour in the bottle. Fake sellers also operate on eBay. Last week swindler Paul Foster, 51, who had sold more than £100,000 of fake DVDs, including box sets of TV blockbusters imported from China, was jailed for 18 months. EBay had handed over a full list of his sales making it easier for the case to go to court. After the sentence, Staffordshire’s ­trading standards leader Gill Heath said: “This sentence sends out a strong message that dealing in counterfeit goods is a serious crime. “This person knowingly sold illegal goods and ripped people off which is ­completely unacceptable. “We would like to remind ­people that counterfeiting is not a harmless crime – it has a detrimental impact on ­legitimate businesses and, more often than not, it funds organised