Episode 6 Fake Britain

Welcome to a world where nothing is as it seems.

Welcome to Fake Britain.

-Get him!

-Get him.

-Get on the floor now!

Put your hands behind your back now!

Here at the Fake Britain house,

we'll review the fakes that are flooding the market,

conning people like you and me and making money for the criminals.

We'll investigate the fraudsters who are selling us something

that isn't real and could be dangerous.

And we'll help you avoid falling for a fake.

Today on Fake Britain...

The teeth whitening fakers that ruined this woman's teeth.

I started noticing something chipping away.

-And it was part of my tooth.

-Open the door, please.

Head-phonies - the fake headphones that could give you an earful.

This serrated metal piece fell off.

That piece would have gone in my ear.

The fake halogen heaters that are too hot to handle.

I panicked. There was a flame coming off of it. It had caught fire.

Creating a whiter than white celebrity smile

has become an industry worth millions.

Many of us are prepared to spend a lot of money on a sparkly smile,

and teeth whitening treatments can cost hundreds of pounds.

But fakers selling illegal products, or posing as licensed technicians,

are only too happy to relieve people of that money.

Check out these dazzling Hollywood grins.

With more and more celebrities showing their sparkling rows of pearly whites,

it's no surprise that demand for teeth whitening products and services is shooting up.

We now spend more than £100 million a year

on whitening toothpastes alone.

Three in ten of us don't like the look of our teeth.

Like Ruth Clements from Dorset, who thought hers were a bit too yellow.

I do drink a lot of black coffee and the occasional glass of red wine.

It does stain your teeth.

So, yeah, I wanted a nice smile.

One day, Ruth was at an agricultural fair, the Royal Welsh Show,

when she spotted a stall selling home teeth whitening kits.

There were huge placards that were advertising the product,

very attractive women with very white teeth.

The advertising for the teeth whitening product made specific,

reassuring claims that it was recommended by leading dentists,

whitening teeth in just one day and was safe to use.

So Ruth bought the kit for £30 and took it home to give it a try.

I was to apply the solution onto a guard

and go to sleep with this product on.

And the plan was, in the morning, - hey presto, you've got white teeth.

So that's what Ruth did.

But she wasn't prepared for what happened next.

My gums started to burn after a very short time.

And a tingling sensation. Most uncomfortable.

And it very soon became painful.

Ruth immediately removed the mouth guard

and rinsed her mouth with cold water.

But the next morning, she was still in pain.

I had ulcers on my top set of gums and my lips were very sore.

And these ulcers lasted for five to six days.

The salesman had told Ruth there was a money back guarantee,

so she packaged up the product

and sent it back to the company for a refund.

But that didn't go as planned.

I got the package back unopened.

The Post Office wrote across it, "gone away".

The company had vanished.

And Ruth was starting to realise

that these safety claims made on the teeth whitening kit were fake.

And she wasn't the only one.

Clive Jones from Powys Trading Standards

also had his eye on the company.

Officers bought some of the products and sent them off for testing.

They were shocked at the results.

High levels of hydrogen peroxide, 11%,

which is 110 times the actual legal limit.

The safety claims on these teeth whitening kits were fake.

They weren't safe to use, due to high levels of hydrogen peroxide,

which is the bleaching agent used for whitening teeth.

In the UK, products sold on the high street can legally only contain

a tiny amount of the active ingredient -

just 0.1%.

That's the amount found in whitening toothpastes.

Anything stronger than that, up to the legal limit of 6%,

must be administered by a qualified dentist,

a dental hygienist or therapist working to a dentist's prescription.

We spoke to Dr Uchenna Okoye from the British Dental Association.

Teeth whitening is a serious procedure.

I would consider it a medical procedure,

because the product actually gets into the pores of your teeth.

So if it's done incorrectly,

it can cause irreparable damage and there's no going back.

When you buy the fake products,

some of them have a chemical in them called sodium perborate,

which is actually carcinogenic.

Others have got so much acid in them

that they dissolve the enamel of your teeth.

Tests on the product seized at the show reveal they contain

between 6% and 11% hydrogen peroxide.

That's well over the safe legal limit and potentially dangerous.

Trading Standards needed to prevent any more customers from being hurt,

so they immediately raided the store.

All unsafe teeth whitening products were removed,

and one potential defendant was arrested.

In total, the team confiscated over 250 bottles of dangerous and fake

teeth whitening product.

We've also got banners, again, evidence of the claims.

"Ideal for age groups 16 or over,

"used by leading dentists throughout Europe."

All these claims were fake.

The teeth whitening products were not used by dentists,

and were not suitable for anyone.

Trading Standards needed to find out more about the company.

They quickly discovered that the case wasn't just a local one.

Customers right across the UK had been affected.

One of them was Kathleen Haig from Manchester,

who bought a home teeth whitening kit in her local shopping centre.

That evening, I put it on me teeth,

and within seconds, my mouth were burning.

It were horrific pain. Nothing could shift it.

I kept putting my mouth under the tap

and it worked for a few minutes and then it'd start again.

Kathleen rinsed her mouth throughout the night, trying to stop the pain.

But in the morning, her lips were so swollen that she had no choice

but to go and get checked out by her dentist.

He just took one look at it and said, "You need to go to A&E."

In A&E, they gave Kathleen something for the pain,

but there was nothing they could do

about the serious injuries caused to her mouth.

Couldn't eat or drink for a fortnight without a straw.

Altogether, the discomfort lasted about three month.

In fact, it's still not healed. I still can't have hot drinks.

With people like Kathleen suffering long lasting damage from fake teeth whitening kits,

Powys Trading Standards knew it was vital to stop the company in its tracks.

The investigation soon became a nationwide investigation,

covering criminality valued at over £3 million.

The team soon realised that the fakers were hiding

behind a vast network of fake companies

that made them hard to trace.

The companies consistently dissolved.

Kind of, one company, set up another, dissolved,

and then carried on that practice

over what we think is something like ten years.

But they couldn't hide forever.

Investigators eventually traced all the fake companies back

to just three members of the same family from Manchester.

They were arrested and subsequently charged with fraud.

Two pleaded guilty to serious fraud offences with fakery.

A third member of the family has actually pleaded guilty

to serious Trading Standards offences.

The operation has been a huge success for Trading Standards.

But other fake teeth whitening companies could still be out there.

And for customers like Kathleen, who is now scarred for life,

that's a serious concern.

I'd like to say to all teeth whitening fakers,

you are ruining people's lives. My life has been ruined.

I'll never be able to eat hot food again.

It's terrible. It's terrible what you do.

Coming up, it's not just teeth whitening kits that are being faked.

What about the experts who do it for you?

We meet someone who is injured by a fake dentist.

She is illegally whitening teeth. She's fake.

They've become one of the must-have accessories.

High-quality in-ear headphones. And they don't come cheap.

These would cost around £80 if they were real.

But of course, we are at the Fake Britain house, so they're not.

But buying a fake pair could cost you more than just cash.

Whether it's for our smartphones, MP3 players,

watching films on our laptops or TVs, headphones are big business.

The global headphone market is now worth an estimated £6 billion.

But sellers of fake headphones are also cashing in.

And Fake Britain has been given access

to a raid on a suspected faker.

It's early morning, and Trading Standards officer John Ashby

and his team are on their way to an address somewhere in London.

Just on our way to execute a warrant linked to the online sale

of high-end, counterfeit audio headphones.

The headphones range from anywhere from £80 up to £500-600 each.

Trading Standards already know of several consumers

who have been duped by convincing fake versions

of three of the biggest brands -

Bose, Sennheiser and Beats.

We had a consumer who had been and bought a pair of Bose headphones,

they were somewhere in the region of £200,

when they arrived he was bitterly disappointed to discover

that they were counterfeit.

They've left feeling pretty ripped off, pretty fed up

and attempting to try and get their money back.

Supported by police officers, OK? 253.

The officers arrive at the suspected faker's address.

And it's time to wake him up. KNOCK ON DOOR

Can you open the door, please?

Hello. My name is John Ashby.

We've got an entry warrant, and that's in relation to the sale of goods.

Myself and a few officers are going to come in and we are going to search the house.

Folks, do you want to go into the living room?

Let's find something that's counterfeit.

Try and find some Sennheisers.

So far, so good. Our main suspect is here.

He very briefly indicated that there are some goods within his home.

Officers search the boot of the suspect's car.

John's leading the search inside the house.

And it's not long before the team finds what it's looking for.

We found Sennheiser and Beats headphones -

exactly the ones that are being sold through the website.

The brand experts have now come in

and confirmed that they're fake items.

The Sennheiser and Beats headphones have been confirmed as fakes.

But the team have also found the Bose headphones that triggered the investigation.

These headphones are the same ones that have been purchased

by our two consumer complainants...

..and were discovered to be counterfeit.

They're also the same ones that we ourselves test purchased.

It's a fairly good copy of the original packaging,

including all the mechanics inside.

Warranties and instructions and the like.

And it's all there just to dupe the poor unsuspecting

member of the public into buying this high-end expensive item.

It's good to find these in-house with the suspects,

so great evidence.

Officers have discovered something else interesting inside the house.

Within the property, there's boxes of stuff, packaging,

parcelling tape, postal stickers.

There's also quite a professional-looking photo booth

that he takes images of the goods in when advertising them.

Now, it's time to start bringing out the substantial seizure

of fake Bose, Sennheiser and Beats headphones.

These headphones are typical of the ones we've seized today.

They're certainly counterfeit.

You could see with a close inspection that they're not really

quite as good as the real, legitimate thing.

They're no better than you'd pay a couple of pound for.

The sound quality's terrible.

John and his team have learned a little about how the suspected faker's business model works.

He's definitely been boxing and packaging them up at home,

so quite a cottage industry.

Today, Trading Standards have seized a van load of fake headphones,

but there are more out there.

Michael from north-east London is a fan of Beats headphones.

I really like my gadgets.

I like Beats headphones.

I remember when I got my first pair when I was at university.

They're good quality. I've had many over the years.

Michael had his heart set on some in-ear headphones

which usually retail for around £80.

So, he was excited when he saw a pair advertised for less online.

They were selling headphones for £30, I think it was,

and I thought I'd buy them.

Michael went ahead and ordered the headphones via the website.

I ran to the letterbox every day, just to see if they'd arrived.

After two weeks of waiting, I saw a small envelope.

not what I was expecting, because Beats headphones like this come in a box.

There is no box. I looked inside and what I'd got

was a little bag with some headphones in.

And a pouch.

It didn't look right.

The headphones are the wrong colour,

they don't feel the same as the other pair I had.

Michael suspected that he'd bought fake headphones.

But it was only when he tried to put them in his ears

that his suspicions were confirmed.

The metal grille on the top of the headphone fell off.

I was completely shocked.

Obviously, that's not meant to happen at all.

That piece would have gone in my ear.

This is absolutely disgusting, to be honest.

Fake Britain showed Michael's headphones

to an experienced industry investigator,

familiar with Beats products.

They confirmed them as fake.

We wanted to find out more about the dangers of fake headphones,

like the ones that Michael bought.

So, we went to see ear, nose and throat consultant Gerald Brookes.

A big part of his job is helping patients

who've managed to get something stuck in their ear.

There's a whole range of items that can get into the ear,

which are not supposed to be there.

Occasionally it's possible, if the skin is abraded or a foreign body

material is introduced, it can become infected.

We showed Gerald the fake headphones that Michael bought.

He had some real concerns.

These particular headphones have a small mesh that seems to fix into

the end, or certainly it's in the end of one of them

and one of them is missing here.

That could cause a problem because they could put it in the ear,

it can fall off, roll down the ear canal and get stuck in there.

I think you'd have to go to an ENT specialist,

who would retrieve it for them.

It's not just poor build quality that could pose a threat

to the unwitting wearers of fake headphones.

There could be some concerns that some of these fake phones

may generate excessive sound levels, which could damage the ear.

Loud noise has a cumulative adverse effect on the ear,

in other words, the damage builds up and will cause hearing loss.

For Michael, it's a lesson learned.

He won't be making the same mistake again.

In future, I'll go somewhere

that I know I can get a genuine product from,

from the high street, where I can see the product,

or online with official merchandisers.

There's people out there that want to dupe consumers.

Earlier on Fake Britain,

we saw how consumers were injured by fake home teeth whitening products

containing levels of bleaching agent over 100 times the legal safe amount.

My gums started to burn after a very short time.

But it's not just home teeth whitening kits that are being faked.

What if you wanted to pay someone to whiten your teeth for you?

Really, really white.

Teeth whitening isn't just a cosmetic procedure, it's dentistry,

and should only be carried out by regulated dental professionals

who have registered with the GDC, the General Dental Council.

But how do you know if they are?

Natasha Crane from Norwich had decided to get her teeth whitened

by someone she thought was a professional.

I've always wanted a nice, white smile.

It's always been a big thing for me.

I had braces and ever since I've had my braces removed,

I've thought my teeth were quite yellow.

Natasha had been told that teeth whitening could cost over £500.

So when she saw someone advertising fast laser teeth whitening online for less, she was interested.

So I messaged her and she said, "For £30,

"at a reduced rate from £99, I can book you in next week."

The following week, Natasha went to the woman's house, as arranged.

I had a few doubts.

Everything was set up,

but because there was a few certificates on her wall,

and another lady had her teeth whitened, that kind of reassured me a bit.

When it was Natasha's turn,

the woman painted bleach on her teeth and then left her under a laser for 45 minutes.

After a second application, it was time to see the results.

And it was then when she removed the retainer from my mouth,

I felt like my mouth was, like, punched about 100 times.

It was indescribable. I could hardly open my jaw.

And she said, "Yeah, that's normal."

Still in pain, Natasha went home.

But the next day, things got even worse.

After about 24 hours, I...

..started noticing something chipping away.

I had a look and it was part of my tooth.

One of Natasha's teeth had started to crumble away in her mouth.

Really devastating. I went there to get my teeth whitened

and I've come out and I've lost about 60% of that tooth.

I was crying loads. I thought to myself -

why did I go and get my teeth whitened?

I should have just left them,

saved up the money to go to a dentist.

Desperate for help, Natasha contacted UK dentist regulator,

the General Dental Council.

They gave her some disturbing news.

They then said, "She's not registered on our register.

"She's fake.

"She's advertising...

"..as a teeth whitening dentist, but she's not."

Natasha had had her teeth whitening bodged by somebody posing as

a regulated dental professional.

She thought she was getting power or laser bleaching,

which should take place in the dentist's chair,

using a laser to speed up the process.

Dr Okoye told us more about the strict laws

governing the powerful and potentially harmful chemicals involved in these treatments.

By law, the only people that can actually carry out teeth whitening

are dental professionals, so for example, as a dentist,

this involves five years of training and that means that I can actually

assess your mouth properly and be able to carry out the treatment

effectively and safely.

Anyone offering teeth whitening without a licence

is a fake teeth whitening practitioner.

It is really dangerous for somebody who's not qualified

to be carrying out teeth whitening.

They could cause permanent damage to teeth and gums.

Dr Wyman Chan is one of the world's leading tooth whitening experts

and dentist to the stars.

He's concerned about the problem of fakers in the teeth whitening industry.

Fake dentists, big, massive problem,

I've seen lots of these patients who have been to see these fake dentists

and usually, they complain about sensitivity.

It's like a really bad toothache, it's so painful.

A lot of these fake dentists, they are using fake number

and they pass themselves out as registered dentists.

In a recent case, a fake dentist made nearly £1,000 a day

from his illegal teeth whitening business,

run from premises on London's bustling Oxford Street.

He even used a fake GDC number

to make himself look like a real dentist.

Fadi Hatab's operation was shut down and he was fined £10,000.

A fake GDC number wouldn't show up on the GDC's register of dentists,

but a real number will.

My advice is, number one,

make sure that they're registered with the General Dental Council.

That's quite easy to do from the website.

And also, I'd say it's about trust.

Go with your gut. Don't be afraid to ask questions.

And if you don't trust them, go somewhere else.

I feel angry about this.

These fake dentists, they can be anyone.

I heard some story in the daytime they are bricklayers,

in the evening, they take their bags and go to someone's house

and become a tooth whitener.

For Natasha, only time will tell

whether she'll be able to move past her experience

with the teeth whitening faker.

I feel really stupid for not doing my research.

I'm left with sensitivity...

..for life, probably.

And I think I'm going to lose most of my tooth.

This is a halogen heater.

Many people buy them because they give out heat very quickly

and are usually quite compact.

Like any electrical appliance, you'd expect it to be safe,

but we've discovered fake halogen heaters

out there, in people's homes,

that are anything but safe and they're not even halogen.

Linda McFarland from Northamptonshire

is an award-winning dog shower.

During a recent chilly spell,

she decided her home was too cold for her prize pets.

Linda went to her local store and bought two small halogen heaters.

When she got them home,

she plugged in one in her living room

and started warming the room up.

Everything was fine until a few days later when Linda was settled down

in front of the TV with the heater on beside her.

I saw a little flicker coming from the top of it...

..and there was a flame coming off of it and it had caught fire.

With the heater on fire, Linda had to act fast.

I panicked and I got up,

immediately unplugged it and I was able to get it out quick,

but it could have caused a problem.

Linda returned the heater to the store,

where it was exchanged for a new one.

She then took the replacement heater home and put it in her living room,

alongside the second of the pair she'd originally bought.

That night, as it was particularly cold,

she sat down to watch TV with both heaters on.

The next thing I know, there was smoke coming from one of them.

I panicked, pulled the plugs out again.

And with that, I noticed both the heaters,

one was melting from the top...

..and the other had black marks all down the vents on the back of it.

If I'd fallen asleep in front of the TV,

it would have gone up in flames.

Linda decided to report her experience to Northamptonshire Trading Standards

before anyone else could get hurt.

Officer Ian Smith immediately picked up the case.

We went straight out and purchased some samples ourselves

so that we could examine it more closely.

OK, this is the item in question,

which is the Kingfisher halogen heater.

If you look down here, it gives you the CE mark,

which tells you it should be meeting the essential safety requirements.

Trading Standards wanted to find out more about the Kingfisher branded

heaters, not to be confused with the home improvement retailer Kingfisher,

to find out if it had really passed the safety tests or whether

the CE mark was in fact fake.

The paperwork did contain test certificates to show that they were safe,

but when we looked more closely

at them they seemed to have differences.

The test certificates that we were shown related to a different item, essentially.

Something that was similar, but not the same as.

There was only one way to find out if the heaters were safe.

Trading Standards would need to send them to be tested.

And the test report uncovered something completely unexpected.

These weren't halogen heaters at all.

The heater was completely fake.

This is one of these so-called halogen bulbs

and you can see that it is simply, as the test house has reported,

a tube with a heating element fed through.

And it soon became clear,

these fake heaters would not pass any safety tests.

The fact that it did indicate that it was electrically unsafe posed

a serious risk that somebody could be electrocuted when using it

or indeed catching fire and potentially burning somebody's house down,

you know, the results could be fatal.

With the heaters confirmed as double fakes,

with fake halogen and CE claims, and also confirmed as dangerous,

Trading Standards immediately issued a product recall.

The importer, Bonnington Plastics,

was prosecuted and ordered to pay fines and costs of almost £7,000.

Linda, who bought three fake heaters,

is relieved that she spotted the problem in time

before serious harm was done.

If it caught fire while I was out,

it would have cost me my property, my dogs, everything.

Everything would have been gone.

That's all from Fake Britain. Goodbye.