0:00:02 > 0:00:05Welcome to a world where nothing is as it seems.
0:00:05 > 0:00:08Welcome to Fake Britain.
0:00:20 > 0:00:21Get down, get down!
0:00:21 > 0:00:23- Get on the floor!- Get your hands behind your back now!
0:00:25 > 0:00:26Here at the Fake Britain house,
0:00:26 > 0:00:29we'll reveal the fakes that are flooding the market,
0:00:29 > 0:00:33conning people like you and me and making money for the criminals.
0:00:33 > 0:00:36We'll investigate the fraudsters who are selling us something
0:00:36 > 0:00:39that isn't real and could be dangerous
0:00:39 > 0:00:43and we'll help you avoid falling for a fake.
0:00:43 > 0:00:44Police, could you open up, please?
0:00:44 > 0:00:46Today on Fake Britain...
0:00:47 > 0:00:51The fake car head lamp bulbs that could cause a serious accident.
0:00:51 > 0:00:53Every time you go out in your car at night-time,
0:00:53 > 0:00:55you're in serious danger.
0:00:55 > 0:00:59The fake prom dress that ruined one teenager's big day.
0:00:59 > 0:01:02The beads are falling off, this has actually turned into a hole.
0:01:02 > 0:01:03What am I going to do?
0:01:03 > 0:01:08The fake memory cards that could cost you your most precious moments.
0:01:08 > 0:01:11There is corrupt files. It's very suspicious.
0:01:17 > 0:01:19You probably don't give them a second thought,
0:01:19 > 0:01:23you just flick a switch and your car head lamps are on.
0:01:23 > 0:01:27This is the type of bulb most cars used to have in their head lamps -
0:01:27 > 0:01:31halogen. Now, though, they tend to have these xenon bulbs,
0:01:31 > 0:01:34more expensive but the manufacturers say they last longer
0:01:34 > 0:01:37and because they're brighter, they are safer.
0:01:37 > 0:01:39This one won't be safer, though.
0:01:39 > 0:01:41It's likely to be more dangerous because it's a fake.
0:01:46 > 0:01:50Nearly half of all road accidents take place at night.
0:01:50 > 0:01:52As darkness falls, reliable head lamp bulbs
0:01:52 > 0:01:55become essential for motorists to see where they're going.
0:01:57 > 0:02:01But what if the bulbs in your car were fake?
0:02:01 > 0:02:04Trading Standards are hunting for fake bulbs that might cut out
0:02:04 > 0:02:08unexpectedly when you most need them on a dark road at night.
0:02:17 > 0:02:18It's early morning.
0:02:18 > 0:02:22Officers from Brent Trading Standards and the Metropolitan Police
0:02:22 > 0:02:26are on the trail of a suspected seller of potentially dangerous
0:02:26 > 0:02:27fake car head lamp bulbs.
0:02:27 > 0:02:31They're thought to be operating out of two addresses.
0:02:32 > 0:02:36Trading Standards officer John Ashby is leading one of the teams.
0:02:36 > 0:02:40We suspect that counterfeit xenon head lamp bulbs
0:02:40 > 0:02:43are being either stored or supplied.
0:02:43 > 0:02:45It's one or two premises, both residential,
0:02:45 > 0:02:48that are being raided simultaneously today.
0:02:50 > 0:02:54Fake xenon head lamp bulbs can dazzle oncoming drivers.
0:02:54 > 0:02:56They've also been known to overheat,
0:02:56 > 0:03:00causing electrical failure and even fires inside the users' cars.
0:03:01 > 0:03:04Keith Rafferty, from manufacturers Osram,
0:03:04 > 0:03:06and Richard Armstrong, from Philips,
0:03:06 > 0:03:10are on hand to help identify any fakes that might be found.
0:03:10 > 0:03:14Hopefully, today we can get the opportunity to put a stop to this
0:03:14 > 0:03:15counterfeit operation,
0:03:15 > 0:03:19because our prime consideration is the safety of our consumers.
0:03:23 > 0:03:26As John's team assembles outside the first address of interest,
0:03:26 > 0:03:28Trading Standards officer Simon Legg
0:03:28 > 0:03:31has led his team to the second address.
0:03:31 > 0:03:36Both teams are trying to catch the occupants unawares.
0:03:38 > 0:03:41At John's address, nobody's opening up.
0:03:42 > 0:03:46Can you open the door, please? This is Brent Council with the Metropolitan Police.
0:03:46 > 0:03:49We've got powers to break the door down unless you open the door.
0:03:49 > 0:03:51RAPID KNOCKING
0:03:51 > 0:03:54And it's the same story at the other address.
0:03:54 > 0:03:56Hello, it's the police, could you open up, please?
0:03:57 > 0:03:59Open the door, please.
0:04:00 > 0:04:01Here we go.
0:04:01 > 0:04:04- We're going to come in. - Could you let the police in?
0:04:04 > 0:04:07Eventually, both teams gain entry.
0:04:07 > 0:04:11But John's team still has one obstacle in its way.
0:04:12 > 0:04:13Hello.
0:04:13 > 0:04:15Open the door. Police.
0:04:15 > 0:04:17All right, we're in.
0:04:17 > 0:04:19Police with a warrant, yeah?
0:04:19 > 0:04:21With entry finally gained to both premises,
0:04:21 > 0:04:25the teams can begin their search for the fake head lamp bulbs.
0:04:27 > 0:04:31Soon, the team find a locked garage at the back of the property.
0:04:31 > 0:04:34There's nothing in the flat, we've got to check everything.
0:04:34 > 0:04:36It could be full of stuff.
0:04:36 > 0:04:39The door's padlocked, so there's only one way in.
0:04:47 > 0:04:49I feel like I'm in Storage Wars.
0:04:51 > 0:04:52But there are no fakes here.
0:04:53 > 0:04:55You win some, you lose some.
0:04:57 > 0:04:59So, where are the fake bulbs?
0:05:02 > 0:05:04Back in the house, John has better luck.
0:05:04 > 0:05:09He's found the first signs that hopefully link this address with criminality.
0:05:09 > 0:05:12Ooh, hang on. Where were they?
0:05:12 > 0:05:15It's a pair of suspected fake head lamp bulbs.
0:05:15 > 0:05:17Not much, but it is a start.
0:05:17 > 0:05:22We've got a box of returned light bulbs, Osram ones, which are car xenons.
0:05:22 > 0:05:24And on them they have written "malfunktiou",
0:05:24 > 0:05:27which I presume is Polish for "not working properly".
0:05:27 > 0:05:31And all the paperwork seems to go back to our main suspects.
0:05:34 > 0:05:35Over at the other address,
0:05:35 > 0:05:38the team led by Trading Standards officer Simon Legg
0:05:38 > 0:05:40has had a positive result.
0:05:40 > 0:05:44This garage is full of thousands of the potentially dangerous
0:05:44 > 0:05:47fake car head lamp bulbs they've been searching for.
0:05:47 > 0:05:50And there's more evidence of fakery inside the house.
0:05:51 > 0:05:54It appears the bedroom upstairs is being used as an office
0:05:54 > 0:05:56where there's posting, packaging materials,
0:05:56 > 0:05:57business records, the computer,
0:05:57 > 0:05:59the internet side of the business.
0:05:59 > 0:06:02And the garage is being used as the stock room.
0:06:02 > 0:06:04In there, we've got counterfeit Osram and Philips bulbs.
0:06:06 > 0:06:09Jan de Visser from Philips and John Lancaster from Osram
0:06:09 > 0:06:13can't wait to examine the suspected fake bulbs.
0:06:13 > 0:06:15There's different types of Philips bulbs,
0:06:15 > 0:06:17but that's one of the obvious ones.
0:06:17 > 0:06:21I think that is the only type of Osram product I can see at the moment.
0:06:21 > 0:06:22This has nothing to do with Phillips.
0:06:22 > 0:06:26- I take it that's nothing to do with Osram?- This looks very good.
0:06:27 > 0:06:31The experts have confirmed that the Philips and Osram bulbs are fake,
0:06:31 > 0:06:36with the Osram ones amongst the most convincing fakes ever seen by the brand holder.
0:06:37 > 0:06:40The counterfeiters have definitely stepped up their game.
0:06:40 > 0:06:42We've seen over the last couple of years
0:06:42 > 0:06:45a big development in the quality of their packaging.
0:06:45 > 0:06:47Every detail has been copied exactly,
0:06:47 > 0:06:51there's not spelling mistakes you would have seen a few years ago.
0:06:51 > 0:06:54The seal on the packaging is identical
0:06:54 > 0:06:57to what you would find on a genuine Osram.
0:06:57 > 0:07:01The fake Philips head lamp bulbs look equally impressive.
0:07:01 > 0:07:03There's a lot of good quality evidence here,
0:07:03 > 0:07:06it'll really help us with our investigation.
0:07:07 > 0:07:09It's a great result for Trading Standards.
0:07:09 > 0:07:13They've taken over 1,000 potentially dangerous fake xenon bulbs,
0:07:13 > 0:07:17worth around £100,000, off the streets.
0:07:19 > 0:07:20Coming up,
0:07:20 > 0:07:23we put fake xenon headlamp bulbs to the test -
0:07:23 > 0:07:25with some shocking results.
0:07:25 > 0:07:28There's a very strong smell of burning rubber coming through.
0:07:28 > 0:07:32But it is a serious hazard for the driver, as this continues.
0:07:38 > 0:07:42Lots of schools now have an American-style prom for their pupils,
0:07:42 > 0:07:46celebrating the ending of exams or leaving school.
0:07:46 > 0:07:49They tend to be glitzy and glamorous affairs and pupils,
0:07:49 > 0:07:53with the help of their parents, spend small fortunes on dresses,
0:07:53 > 0:07:54suits and limousines.
0:07:54 > 0:07:58The whole industry is worth tens of millions of pounds every year.
0:07:58 > 0:07:59But when this arrived,
0:07:59 > 0:08:03it wasn't the dream dress that its excited teenage owner expected.
0:08:03 > 0:08:05Far from it.
0:08:05 > 0:08:08Dresses like this one are ruining prom nights up and down the country.
0:08:14 > 0:08:16End-of-year proms started in America
0:08:16 > 0:08:18and now they're taking off over here.
0:08:21 > 0:08:25Up to 85% of British schools now have a prom, with some pupils,
0:08:25 > 0:08:30or their parents, spending over £500 each on clothes, hairdos,
0:08:30 > 0:08:33spray tans and even limousine and helicopter hire.
0:08:36 > 0:08:39Prom is the biggest night of the whole year
0:08:39 > 0:08:42because it represents the end of GCSEs.
0:08:42 > 0:08:44It's the end of everything you've been working for.
0:08:44 > 0:08:49The whole year starts planning the prom from pretty much the first day of the year.
0:08:49 > 0:08:52And then it goes all the way through pretty much the whole year.
0:08:53 > 0:08:58Whilst shoes, hair, make-up and transport are all important parts of the prom experience,
0:08:58 > 0:09:01for some girls, there's one thing that matters above all else.
0:09:01 > 0:09:03The dress.
0:09:03 > 0:09:05The dress is seriously important.
0:09:05 > 0:09:07I mean, if it's amazing, it will make the night.
0:09:07 > 0:09:09If it's not that great, it will ruin the night.
0:09:09 > 0:09:11You have to find the right dress
0:09:11 > 0:09:13that maybe someone else might not have.
0:09:13 > 0:09:15You have to find the right colour that suits you,
0:09:15 > 0:09:18you're always thinking about, oh, what do other people think?
0:09:21 > 0:09:24You've got all that lovely train detail going down the back.
0:09:25 > 0:09:28Tracy Beardsley owns a dress shop in Bournemouth
0:09:28 > 0:09:31that supplies wedding and prom dresses.
0:09:31 > 0:09:35The prom industry is worth up to 100 million in the UK,
0:09:35 > 0:09:38so it's very big business.
0:09:38 > 0:09:40We have a range that starts at £85
0:09:40 > 0:09:43and goes right through to nearly £600,
0:09:43 > 0:09:46so that's the kind of money that the girls are spending,
0:09:46 > 0:09:49or their parents are spending, on dresses.
0:09:51 > 0:09:53When Billie Haines's prom came round,
0:09:53 > 0:09:56the first thing on her mind was what she'd wear.
0:09:56 > 0:09:59She'd seen a dress online that she'd fallen in love with.
0:09:59 > 0:10:02I knew that was what I wanted, like, sort of a mermaid type.
0:10:02 > 0:10:05I didn't see any dress that compared to it.
0:10:05 > 0:10:07It was literally like my dream dress.
0:10:08 > 0:10:12The dress was reduced from over £500 to around 150,
0:10:12 > 0:10:14so it seemed like a bargain.
0:10:15 > 0:10:18The website promised custom fitting,
0:10:18 > 0:10:20so Billie filled in her measurements and ordered it.
0:10:22 > 0:10:24But when the dress finally turned up,
0:10:24 > 0:10:26it wasn't at all what she was expecting.
0:10:28 > 0:10:33You could see straightaway it wasn't the right colour.
0:10:33 > 0:10:36There's beads falling off everywhere.
0:10:36 > 0:10:38The stitching that's undone.
0:10:38 > 0:10:39This has actually turned into a hole.
0:10:39 > 0:10:41I can literally get my whole hand through.
0:10:41 > 0:10:43It doesn't have a lot of resemblance at all, really,
0:10:43 > 0:10:46to what I actually should have received.
0:10:48 > 0:10:52Billie had unwittingly bought a fake version of a dress made by Blush,
0:10:52 > 0:10:56a leading American prom dress designer.
0:10:56 > 0:10:59Disappointed, but expecting the dress to at least fit properly,
0:10:59 > 0:11:01Billie tried it on.
0:11:01 > 0:11:03Around my hips it wasn't the right size,
0:11:03 > 0:11:05it was just totally dangling off me, sort of thing,
0:11:05 > 0:11:08not even close to my actual size.
0:11:08 > 0:11:10It was just sort of, what am I going to do?
0:11:13 > 0:11:16With prom just round the corner, Billie had no dress to wear.
0:11:16 > 0:11:20Now desperate, she complained to the company.
0:11:20 > 0:11:23They offered us 5% of what we'd paid.
0:11:23 > 0:11:27Obviously, we weren't happy with that so we carried on e-mailing them
0:11:27 > 0:11:29and finally they offered 10%,
0:11:29 > 0:11:31but then they stopped replying after that.
0:11:33 > 0:11:37We took Billie's fake Blush dress to Hannah Brady at Alexia Designs,
0:11:37 > 0:11:40the stockists of the genuine dresses.
0:11:42 > 0:11:45This is one of the worst fakes I've ever seen.
0:11:45 > 0:11:47I think about three sequins fell off as I touched it then.
0:11:47 > 0:11:51I feel dreadful for the poor girl that had to wear this to her prom.
0:11:51 > 0:11:56Many a last-minute prom panic has been caused by a bad quality fake
0:11:56 > 0:11:58that's not a patch on the genuine dress.
0:12:01 > 0:12:04So here we have a genuine Blush prom dress
0:12:04 > 0:12:06and this is a counterfeit dress.
0:12:06 > 0:12:10As you can see, the quality is pretty dreadful.
0:12:10 > 0:12:13The sequences are glued on, there's loose threads everywhere,
0:12:13 > 0:12:16the stitching on the bodice is just completely haphazard
0:12:16 > 0:12:18from jewel to jewel.
0:12:18 > 0:12:21And some of the jewels are falling off or upside down.
0:12:21 > 0:12:23The way they hang is completely different.
0:12:23 > 0:12:26The seams are manufactured so the dress hangs properly from the hips down.
0:12:26 > 0:12:30Whereas this one, you know, the seams just sit there.
0:12:32 > 0:12:36Sellers of fake dresses have developed clever ways to trick
0:12:36 > 0:12:39unsuspecting prom goers into thinking they're buying the real thing.
0:12:39 > 0:12:42One of the biggest tricks that counterfeiters use is stealing images.
0:12:42 > 0:12:46So the time and effort we've put into creating a photo shoot,
0:12:46 > 0:12:48they just take the image, scrub off the logo
0:12:48 > 0:12:49and shove it up on their website.
0:12:52 > 0:12:55To stop their photos from being stolen by the fakers,
0:12:55 > 0:12:58genuine manufacturers use special image searching software
0:12:58 > 0:13:01that can identify a particular photo
0:13:01 > 0:13:04by analysing the image, shapes and colours.
0:13:04 > 0:13:07But the fakers are now changing the images they've stolen
0:13:07 > 0:13:12from genuine websites so that the software can't identify them.
0:13:12 > 0:13:15Even using Photoshop to change a model's head completely.
0:13:15 > 0:13:18So this one, we have a nice photo shoot,
0:13:18 > 0:13:22and then in this one, they've removed all the background image.
0:13:22 > 0:13:24That model is gone, Photoshopped the model's head out,
0:13:24 > 0:13:28so that's what they do to make it harder for legitimate suppliers
0:13:28 > 0:13:30to put a stop to this.
0:13:32 > 0:13:37Fake prom dress images like this often appear on websites designed to fool
0:13:37 > 0:13:39the unsuspecting buyer.
0:13:39 > 0:13:42We wanted to see how easy it is to create one,
0:13:42 > 0:13:47so we went to see Mike Andrews from the National Trading Standards e-crime team.
0:13:47 > 0:13:50Mike has taken up Fake Britain's challenge
0:13:50 > 0:13:53to build a fake prom dress website
0:13:53 > 0:13:57using the genuine Alexia Designs website as a template.
0:13:57 > 0:14:02This is the code, the HTML, which makes up the website,
0:14:02 > 0:14:06and then we can get to work on manipulating the files that we want
0:14:06 > 0:14:07to create the fake.
0:14:09 > 0:14:12We've given Mike just half an hour to build a fake prom dress website
0:14:12 > 0:14:15that could be used to sell poor-quality fakes.
0:14:17 > 0:14:21A quick bit of manipulation, a quick edit of the text on the website,
0:14:21 > 0:14:25and it's just a matter of going in there and amending the various links.
0:14:25 > 0:14:28Time's nearly up, but Mike is one step ahead.
0:14:35 > 0:14:40So, that's taken me about just over 20 minutes and we've now got a fake
0:14:40 > 0:14:44copy of the original website.
0:14:44 > 0:14:48We've created an amended version with the Alexis name.
0:14:48 > 0:14:53The original image, with the original branding and logo on it,
0:14:53 > 0:14:55and the one that we doctored.
0:14:57 > 0:14:59It looks very, very similar.
0:14:59 > 0:15:02It is quite easy to create something that really does appear quite genuine.
0:15:02 > 0:15:06Now, I can get this uploaded online and quickly start making
0:15:06 > 0:15:07large sums of money.
0:15:07 > 0:15:08A consumer looking at that site
0:15:08 > 0:15:11would probably think they're looking at the genuine website.
0:15:14 > 0:15:18Billie Haines is just one of thousands of teenagers who have been duped by
0:15:18 > 0:15:21fake prom dress website like this.
0:15:22 > 0:15:24For her, it was almost too late.
0:15:24 > 0:15:25With prom fast approaching,
0:15:25 > 0:15:30she'd lost £150 on a fake dress with a terrible fit.
0:15:30 > 0:15:34Luckily, she had friends who could fix it.
0:15:35 > 0:15:38She took three weeks to do it because of how badly made it was.
0:15:38 > 0:15:40And then she couldn't even fully fix it.
0:15:40 > 0:15:45She had to take off 100 sequins, just to make it fit properly.
0:15:46 > 0:15:48Billie did go to the prom,
0:15:48 > 0:15:52but it was far from the experience she dreamed of.
0:15:52 > 0:15:53I did have a nice time
0:15:53 > 0:15:56but it was just being paranoid about what it looked like,
0:15:56 > 0:15:59because it kept rising up as well.
0:15:59 > 0:16:03So all night I was just like pulling it down and tucking it in and trying
0:16:03 > 0:16:07to have a nice time while fiddling all night.
0:16:10 > 0:16:13Everyone wants to have that sort of fairy tale moment with a prom dress,
0:16:13 > 0:16:16stepping out of a limo and everyone saying, "Wow, you look amazing!"
0:16:16 > 0:16:19And you just can't get that with a counterfeit dress.
0:16:27 > 0:16:28Earlier on Fake Britain,
0:16:28 > 0:16:32we saw how officers from Brent Trading Standards successfully seized
0:16:32 > 0:16:37over 1,000 potentially dangerous fake xenon car head lamp bulbs.
0:16:38 > 0:16:40Lots of fake bulbs here.
0:16:40 > 0:16:44A lot of good quality evidence, it'll really help us with our investigation.
0:16:44 > 0:16:48Michael Cadelski found out about the dangers of fake head lamps
0:16:48 > 0:16:52when he needed replacement bulbs for his family car.
0:16:52 > 0:16:57One bulb had blown and because they come in different colour temperatures,
0:16:57 > 0:17:00I thought it would be wise to change both bulbs at the same time,
0:17:00 > 0:17:02to make sure they were exactly the same colour.
0:17:02 > 0:17:06New xenon bulbs direct from Volvo cost about £100 each.
0:17:06 > 0:17:10So Michael decided to look for a better deal online.
0:17:10 > 0:17:15When I secured two of them for £68, I thought I was quids in.
0:17:15 > 0:17:20Michael decided to buy from a British-based seller for added peace of mind.
0:17:20 > 0:17:23But when the bulbs took longer than expected to arrive,
0:17:23 > 0:17:28Michael began to get suspicious, so he contacted the seller.
0:17:28 > 0:17:30In complaining to the guy, he said, you know,
0:17:30 > 0:17:32"I told you they come from Poland,"
0:17:32 > 0:17:35and it really clearly wasn't stated on the website at all
0:17:35 > 0:17:38that they were coming from Poland. It was stating UK.
0:17:38 > 0:17:40So I was a little bit uncertain about them.
0:17:44 > 0:17:46Finally, the bulbs arrived.
0:17:46 > 0:17:50They looked OK. So Michael installed them in his car and thought no more
0:17:50 > 0:17:51about it.
0:17:52 > 0:17:53Got home at about half-past five
0:17:53 > 0:17:56and as I pulled up against the garage door,
0:17:56 > 0:17:58I noticed that one of the bulbs was out.
0:17:58 > 0:18:01Turned the ignition off, turned it back on again, still no light,
0:18:01 > 0:18:04got out the car, checked the bulbs,
0:18:04 > 0:18:07and the left-hand bulb was not working.
0:18:07 > 0:18:10Michael was due to go on holiday before dawn the next day.
0:18:10 > 0:18:14He would need working headlights to drive to the airport in the dark.
0:18:14 > 0:18:17It was quite detrimental because we were travelling at four o'clock in
0:18:17 > 0:18:20the morning, Saturday morning and I found this out
0:18:20 > 0:18:23at six o'clock on a Friday.
0:18:23 > 0:18:25With just hours to go before his flight,
0:18:25 > 0:18:28Michael had to search for a replacement bulb.
0:18:28 > 0:18:32Luckily, he found one and was able to drive to the airport.
0:18:33 > 0:18:35But when he returned from holiday,
0:18:35 > 0:18:39he took a closer look at the bulbs that had failed.
0:18:39 > 0:18:42So, I took the back off and noticed that the circuit board was very,
0:18:42 > 0:18:45very different from the circuit board from the original,
0:18:45 > 0:18:47which obviously alerted me to the fact
0:18:47 > 0:18:49that they were most probably fake.
0:18:50 > 0:18:54Michael sent photos of the bulbs to manufacturers Osram.
0:18:54 > 0:18:57They confirmed that they were indeed fake.
0:18:57 > 0:19:00It could have caused us an awful lot of problems, really.
0:19:00 > 0:19:05If it had gone in the middle of the night when I was driving,
0:19:05 > 0:19:08down country lanes or whatever, that would have been detrimental as well.
0:19:10 > 0:19:13Michael was left out of pocket by a fake xenon bulb
0:19:13 > 0:19:16but this is not just about money.
0:19:16 > 0:19:20The fakes can pose serious safety risks to other road users.
0:19:23 > 0:19:27Phillips is a leading xenon head lamps manufacturer.
0:19:27 > 0:19:31This factory in Germany is the heart of their xenon head lamps business.
0:19:31 > 0:19:35Sales director Richard Armstrong is concerned about the safety of the
0:19:35 > 0:19:37fake bulbs on the market.
0:19:37 > 0:19:41If you fit a counterfeit bulb with a dramatic increase in glare,
0:19:41 > 0:19:45that represents a serious hazard for oncoming drivers.
0:19:45 > 0:19:49Car headlights are manufactured to meet high safety standards.
0:19:49 > 0:19:53They need to shine as much bright light as possible onto the road ahead
0:19:53 > 0:19:56at just the right angle to avoid dazzling oncoming drivers.
0:19:59 > 0:20:03Richard is going to run a test to show how the fake bulbs perform.
0:20:04 > 0:20:07First, he'll test a genuine bulb.
0:20:07 > 0:20:09As we can see through this demonstration,
0:20:09 > 0:20:13the black line represents the horizon, the cut-off line,
0:20:13 > 0:20:17and the red line represents the legal limit which the light must not
0:20:17 > 0:20:19exceed, because when it exceeds the red line,
0:20:19 > 0:20:22that is when glare starts to occur.
0:20:22 > 0:20:24And as we can see, with a genuine bulb fitted,
0:20:24 > 0:20:28it meets all the legal requirements to ensure that no dazzling of
0:20:28 > 0:20:30oncoming traffic can occur.
0:20:31 > 0:20:35But, when the fake bulb is tested, the difference is stark.
0:20:35 > 0:20:38As we can see with the counterfeit bulb fitting,
0:20:38 > 0:20:40it's very clearly exceeding the line dramatically.
0:20:40 > 0:20:43That increases glare.
0:20:43 > 0:20:46What this means, by fitting a counterfeit bulb,
0:20:46 > 0:20:49every time you go out in your car at night time and you switch on your
0:20:49 > 0:20:53lights, you're in serious danger of dazzling other drivers and,
0:20:53 > 0:20:57as a consequence, increasing the likelihood of causing a serious accident.
0:20:57 > 0:21:01Blinding oncoming drivers is just one of the many hazards posed by
0:21:01 > 0:21:03fake headlight bulbs.
0:21:03 > 0:21:07The dangers of fitting a counterfeit bulb range from electrical problems
0:21:07 > 0:21:12on the vehicle, which may result in airbags being detonated unnecessarily
0:21:12 > 0:21:15and, in extreme cases, we've seen vehicles catch fire
0:21:15 > 0:21:18as a result of a counterfeit bulb being fitted.
0:21:20 > 0:21:25Richard's team was recently sent a fake bulb bought by a British motorist.
0:21:25 > 0:21:30They're going to run another test, this time an electrical test.
0:21:30 > 0:21:33And outdoors, for safety reasons.
0:21:33 > 0:21:35The customer's reported damage to the vehicle,
0:21:35 > 0:21:39so we're not sure what the results of the test are going to produce.
0:21:45 > 0:21:47The results are swift and conclusive.
0:21:47 > 0:21:50There's a very strong smell of burning rubber coming through.
0:21:50 > 0:21:54The fake bulb is overheating and smoking dangerously.
0:21:54 > 0:21:56Out of sight under the bonnet of someone's car,
0:21:56 > 0:21:59this fake bulb would have continued to heat up.
0:22:01 > 0:22:04This represents a significant danger to the driver of the car.
0:22:04 > 0:22:07Because it can lead, then, to a full-blown fire.
0:22:07 > 0:22:11The hazard it presents to the vehicle driver
0:22:11 > 0:22:13is a serious danger.
0:22:18 > 0:22:21This micro-SD card is a great digital storage device.
0:22:21 > 0:22:26It's small, but it hold over 40,000 of your treasured photos or 24 hours
0:22:26 > 0:22:30of home video. But if you had all your precious moments recorded on this,
0:22:30 > 0:22:33you might regret it, because it's a fake!
0:22:33 > 0:22:35How safe are your memories?
0:22:37 > 0:22:41From CompactFlash cards to secure Digital or SD cards,
0:22:41 > 0:22:44we all want portable storage these days.
0:22:44 > 0:22:47The more we take photos with our cameras and phones,
0:22:47 > 0:22:51the more we need these kinds of things to store the data on.
0:22:51 > 0:22:52And it's a big business,
0:22:52 > 0:22:57with the global market for SD cards set to reach over £14 billion
0:22:57 > 0:22:59within a few years.
0:23:01 > 0:23:04But, as Tim Lawrence from Derbyshire discovered,
0:23:04 > 0:23:09the fakers have inserted themselves into the portable storage market, too.
0:23:09 > 0:23:13Tim loves cycling around the great outdoors and video recording his
0:23:13 > 0:23:19adventures using a small video camera that records onto micro-SD cards.
0:23:19 > 0:23:22Tend to record the footage
0:23:22 > 0:23:24on the more interesting parts of the route.
0:23:24 > 0:23:29For example, if you're going down a gnarly, rocky descent,
0:23:29 > 0:23:32you can actually see, oh, that's where I made that mistake.
0:23:35 > 0:23:38Tim needed a new, high-capacity 64GB micro-SD card card,
0:23:39 > 0:23:41so he went online.
0:23:41 > 0:23:45He found one for around £45 which was a good deal at the time.
0:23:47 > 0:23:51The card arrived, and it looked absolutely fine,
0:23:51 > 0:23:53so Tim started filming.
0:23:53 > 0:23:57A few months later, he was riding and filming a particularly challenging
0:23:57 > 0:23:59mountain bike route.
0:23:59 > 0:24:03Afterwards, Tim took the micro-SD card straight home and plugged it
0:24:03 > 0:24:06into his computer.
0:24:06 > 0:24:10We'll try and see what we recorded.
0:24:10 > 0:24:12Clicked open.
0:24:12 > 0:24:16And basically it came up with that - error, can't play.
0:24:16 > 0:24:19There's a problem the extension format.
0:24:19 > 0:24:22And what you've recorded, you've lost.
0:24:22 > 0:24:26Try as he might, Tim couldn't recover the footage, so he called SanDisk,
0:24:26 > 0:24:30who he thought had manufactured the micro-SD card.
0:24:30 > 0:24:33They informed me through the information I provided
0:24:33 > 0:24:35that it was a non-genuine one.
0:24:37 > 0:24:41Tim was shocked to discover that he had in fact bought a fake card.
0:24:41 > 0:24:47The packaging and the card that was enclosed in the packaging was that
0:24:47 > 0:24:51good a copy
0:24:51 > 0:24:55that, at first glance, you wouldn't realise that it was a copy.
0:24:56 > 0:25:00Tim had no chance of spotting the difference between the fake card
0:25:00 > 0:25:04and the fake adapter that it came with and the genuine item.
0:25:04 > 0:25:06But there is a man who can.
0:25:07 > 0:25:12Mike Montgomery is a data recovery expert who regularly deals with
0:25:12 > 0:25:15people who've lost precious photos and other important information.
0:25:17 > 0:25:21It can be very devastating. if the data can't be recovered.
0:25:21 > 0:25:25We showed Mike Tim's fake micro-SD card.
0:25:25 > 0:25:27First, he examines the outside.
0:25:27 > 0:25:30All right, the first thing I can see is that this is
0:25:30 > 0:25:32a very strange hologram on it.
0:25:32 > 0:25:36Meaningless. It's very suspicious.
0:25:37 > 0:25:42Tim was unable to play his footage back after recording it on to his fake card,
0:25:42 > 0:25:45and Mike wants to find out why, so he's going to run a test.
0:25:46 > 0:25:51What I did was I took an old photograph of Daisy, one of our dogs,
0:25:51 > 0:25:55and I copied it until the memory card was full.
0:25:55 > 0:25:58The fake card is filled to its maximum capacity.
0:25:58 > 0:26:02after a few thousand repetitions, all of a sudden,
0:26:02 > 0:26:04we've got corrupt files.
0:26:04 > 0:26:06You see here that these files here
0:26:06 > 0:26:08are totally corrupt.
0:26:08 > 0:26:13That one there has started to break up about halfway through.
0:26:13 > 0:26:16And then, from there,
0:26:16 > 0:26:20there's a folder there that has absolutely nothing in it.
0:26:20 > 0:26:24A genuine memory card should warn you when it's full up.
0:26:24 > 0:26:26The card won't allow you to record anything else,
0:26:26 > 0:26:31and everything you've recorded up to that point is safely stored.
0:26:31 > 0:26:33That's not the case with Tim's fake card.
0:26:35 > 0:26:38It's constantly being overwritten, overwritten, overwritten.
0:26:38 > 0:26:43And that corrupts, and leads to data lost.
0:26:45 > 0:26:49Mike's discovered that the card has started recording over itself,
0:26:49 > 0:26:53creating new files that are corrupt while deleting old ones.
0:26:53 > 0:26:57That's why Tim couldn't play back his footage.
0:26:57 > 0:27:00But Mike's noticed something else as well.
0:27:00 > 0:27:05On this memory card, we should have 36,600 photos on here.
0:27:05 > 0:27:07But actually, all that we've got,
0:27:07 > 0:27:109,120
0:27:10 > 0:27:12and we can see here that it
0:27:12 > 0:27:16says the total size on there is 15.2 Gigabytes.
0:27:16 > 0:27:20So that is nothing like the 64GB that's stamped on the outside.
0:27:21 > 0:27:23With the help of some clever software,
0:27:23 > 0:27:28this fake card will tell your computer and you that it's a more expensive,
0:27:28 > 0:27:29high-capacity 64GB card.
0:27:31 > 0:27:33But in reality it's only 16GB.
0:27:34 > 0:27:36A much cheaper, smaller card.
0:27:36 > 0:27:42It's an easy mark-up and profit margin for the sellers of fake cards.
0:27:42 > 0:27:45If you save your data on a fake SD card,
0:27:45 > 0:27:48it might be the last time you ever see it.
0:27:48 > 0:27:55With fake devices, the chances of recovery drop drastically.
0:27:55 > 0:27:58Because, in many cases, the data just doesn't exist any more.
0:28:04 > 0:28:06That's all from Fake Britain.
0:28:06 > 0:28:08Goodbye.