0:00:04 > 0:00:08Welcome to a world where nothing is as it seems.
0:00:08 > 0:00:10Welcome to Fake Britain.
0:00:22 > 0:00:24Get down! Get on the floor now!
0:00:24 > 0:00:26Put your hands behind your back now!
0:00:26 > 0:00:28Here at the Fake Britain house
0:00:28 > 0:00:32we'll reveal the fakes that are flooding the market,
0:00:32 > 0:00:36conning people like you and me and making money for the criminals.
0:00:36 > 0:00:38We'll investigate the fraudsters who are selling us something
0:00:38 > 0:00:41that isn't real and could be dangerous
0:00:41 > 0:00:45and we'll help you avoid falling for a fake.
0:00:46 > 0:00:48Today, on Fake Britain,
0:00:48 > 0:00:51the fake sports memorabilia that could lose you thousands.
0:00:51 > 0:00:54It's wonderful. You know, it's signed by this player,
0:00:54 > 0:00:55it's signed by that player.
0:00:55 > 0:00:57They're all fake.
0:00:58 > 0:01:02The fake debt collectors who just want your money.
0:01:02 > 0:01:05They promise to recover your debt. That happened in no case at all.
0:01:05 > 0:01:09The fake blenders that could cause a fire in your home.
0:01:09 > 0:01:11It's in the lap of the gods
0:01:11 > 0:01:14whether or not this thing catches fire or explodes.
0:01:14 > 0:01:18And the fakers cashing in on the latest running trend.
0:01:18 > 0:01:19I had a little bit of a panic.
0:01:19 > 0:01:22I thought, "Goodness me. I've spent over ?150 and they're fake."
0:01:27 > 0:01:31This boxing glove is signed, it appears,
0:01:31 > 0:01:34by Muhammad Ali and had a price tag of nearly ?1,000.
0:01:34 > 0:01:36Because it was on sale as having belonged
0:01:36 > 0:01:39to the former heavyweight champion of the world.
0:01:39 > 0:01:42But if I'd paid big money for this, I would have taken a big hit
0:01:42 > 0:01:46because this glove and all of this memorabilia is fake.
0:01:46 > 0:01:50The memorabilia fakers are punching above their weight
0:01:50 > 0:01:52and the problem is getting worse.
0:01:54 > 0:01:55It's daybreak.
0:01:55 > 0:01:56A major operation is underway
0:01:56 > 0:01:58to catch one of the many fakers out there
0:01:58 > 0:02:00thought to be selling vast quantities
0:02:00 > 0:02:04of fake sporting memorabilia to members of the public.
0:02:07 > 0:02:11The officers have no idea what to expect when raiding a property
0:02:11 > 0:02:13so the police are providing some heavy-duty backup.
0:02:16 > 0:02:19Trading Standards Officer Neil Martin kicked off the operation
0:02:19 > 0:02:22after buying this football shirt,
0:02:22 > 0:02:24which the seller claimed had been signed
0:02:24 > 0:02:26by a rather famous Manchester United striker.
0:02:27 > 0:02:30We did a test purchase of a signed Wayne Rooney shirt,
0:02:30 > 0:02:33which cost ?150.
0:02:33 > 0:02:38We've subsequently had the signature examined by Wayne Rooney himself,
0:02:38 > 0:02:41who said, "That's not my signature."
0:02:41 > 0:02:45So what, in effect, they've done is added ?100 value to the shirt
0:02:45 > 0:02:47by providing the signature.
0:02:49 > 0:02:53It's thought the suspected faker has raked in over ?1 million
0:02:53 > 0:02:55by selling fake memorabilia.
0:02:56 > 0:02:58When the officers arrive at the address,
0:02:58 > 0:03:00it's not the warmest of welcomes.
0:03:03 > 0:03:06Hi. My name's Neil Martin from Trading Standards in Dorset.
0:03:06 > 0:03:08Can you just leave the door open?
0:03:09 > 0:03:11Can you just leave the door open?
0:03:13 > 0:03:17On this occasion, the battering ram can stay where it is.
0:03:17 > 0:03:19The officers are quickly inside the property,
0:03:19 > 0:03:21where they find the man they believe
0:03:21 > 0:03:23is selling fake signed football merchandise.
0:03:24 > 0:03:27Do you know why we're here? OK. Right.
0:03:27 > 0:03:30The reason we've come here is we made a test purchase
0:03:30 > 0:03:31of a signed football shirt,
0:03:31 > 0:03:34which has been confirmed as being a fake signature.
0:03:34 > 0:03:36What we want to have a look at is your business records
0:03:36 > 0:03:38and stocks that you keep.
0:03:40 > 0:03:41The search gets under way
0:03:41 > 0:03:43and the officers soon discover what could be
0:03:43 > 0:03:46a major fake memorabilia operation.
0:03:46 > 0:03:47In the property itself,
0:03:47 > 0:03:50there's an office set up at the back of the house.
0:03:50 > 0:03:54In that is a computer and various cabinets
0:03:54 > 0:03:57containing blank shirts that don't bear any signatures.
0:04:00 > 0:04:04Soon the officers emerge with boxes and boxes of evidence
0:04:04 > 0:04:07that could suggest a roaring trade
0:04:07 > 0:04:09in the fake signatures of famous footballers.
0:04:11 > 0:04:14We've got bags and bags of blank shirts.
0:04:14 > 0:04:17They're genuine shirts, but unsigned shirts.
0:04:17 > 0:04:19If we hadn't taken them from him,
0:04:19 > 0:04:22I suspect what would have happened is orders would have come in,
0:04:22 > 0:04:26he would have applied the fake signatures to these shirts,
0:04:26 > 0:04:30increased their value by, you know, ?100 plus.
0:04:30 > 0:04:32Boots, as well. Again these are blanks.
0:04:32 > 0:04:34Also footballs.
0:04:34 > 0:04:37We've got probably 60 or 70 footballs,
0:04:37 > 0:04:39again, waiting to be signed.
0:04:40 > 0:04:42The officers even find a stash of pens
0:04:42 > 0:04:45that might have been used to sign the merchandise.
0:04:45 > 0:04:48Sharpie pens. These are sort of the industry standard
0:04:48 > 0:04:50for signed memorabilia.
0:04:50 > 0:04:53We recovered a fairly significant quantity of these pens.
0:04:54 > 0:04:57The officers also seize electronic evidence
0:04:57 > 0:05:00that could point to a fake memorabilia factory
0:05:00 > 0:05:02being run from this suburban home.
0:05:03 > 0:05:07Now, we've just seized a number of computer items. A tower.
0:05:07 > 0:05:10In fact there's three towers have been seized and telephones also.
0:05:10 > 0:05:14The evidence we'll actually be able to retrieve off of these computers
0:05:14 > 0:05:16will go a long way to actually securing, hopefully,
0:05:16 > 0:05:19a successfully conviction at court at a later date.
0:05:21 > 0:05:24It's a huge success for Trading Standards,
0:05:24 > 0:05:26with 26 bags of evidence,
0:05:26 > 0:05:29including over 60 blank football shirts seized.
0:05:30 > 0:05:33But this might not be the last case of fake memorabilia
0:05:33 > 0:05:36that Neil has to deal with.
0:05:36 > 0:05:37Fake memorabilia has been around
0:05:37 > 0:05:40for as long as famous people have been around.
0:05:40 > 0:05:44Particularly, sports memorabilia seems to be very popular.
0:05:44 > 0:05:46You can get a blank shirt, you can fake a signature on it
0:05:46 > 0:05:49and make significant sums of money from it.
0:05:49 > 0:05:52So it's on the increase. We're finding it more and more.
0:05:52 > 0:05:53Coming up, we meet the people
0:05:53 > 0:05:56who thought they were buying the real thing
0:05:56 > 0:05:59but who have lost thousands of pounds on fake collectors' items.
0:05:59 > 0:06:01I've spent about ?9,000.
0:06:01 > 0:06:04It's devastating really,
0:06:04 > 0:06:06because, all of a sudden,
0:06:06 > 0:06:09you've got a room full of stuff that's not worth anything.
0:06:10 > 0:06:12And the Trading Standards officer
0:06:12 > 0:06:14who brought one of the fakers to justice.
0:06:14 > 0:06:17They basically are not worth the paper they're printed on.
0:06:22 > 0:06:25What do you do if someone owes you money and refuses to pay?
0:06:25 > 0:06:29Well, you could hire a debt recovery service to get your money,
0:06:29 > 0:06:31like these guys -
0:06:31 > 0:06:33Barclay Collection Management.
0:06:33 > 0:06:36Barclay sounds good, doesn't it? Like the bank.
0:06:36 > 0:06:40I can rest assured they will get my money back in no time.
0:06:40 > 0:06:42But despite appearances, they won't.
0:06:42 > 0:06:44It's a fake company.
0:06:44 > 0:06:46And as we've discovered, they fooled a lot of people
0:06:46 > 0:06:50and swindled them out of tens of thousands of pounds.
0:06:52 > 0:06:56John Thorpe used to run a successful kitchen design and fitting business
0:06:56 > 0:06:57based in Huddersfield.
0:06:58 > 0:07:01He'd had the company for 20 years and things were going well.
0:07:02 > 0:07:06I'd run a successful business for all these years,
0:07:06 > 0:07:11with big contracts for lots and lots of different clients
0:07:11 > 0:07:13and had a good reputation.
0:07:13 > 0:07:15On one particular job,
0:07:15 > 0:07:19a customer refused to pay for work that John's company had done.
0:07:19 > 0:07:22John was owed ?11,500
0:07:22 > 0:07:27and the huge debt was causing him serious cashflow problems.
0:07:27 > 0:07:32But then, one day, a solution presented itself out of the blue.
0:07:32 > 0:07:36And we got a couple of faxes sent, over two or three days,
0:07:36 > 0:07:39saying Barclays debt collection company. Can we help?
0:07:39 > 0:07:42It seemed fantastic that somebody were going to help us
0:07:42 > 0:07:44get that money back. So I gave them a ring.
0:07:44 > 0:07:47The company, Barclay Collection Management,
0:07:47 > 0:07:52promised to be able to reclaim unpaid debts within six weeks.
0:07:53 > 0:07:56There are legitimate debt collection companies out there,
0:07:56 > 0:07:58helping people to get their money back.
0:07:58 > 0:08:02And because this one was using the names Barclay and Barclays,
0:08:02 > 0:08:04just like the bank,
0:08:04 > 0:08:07John thought he was dealing with a household name.
0:08:07 > 0:08:08I thought it was Barclays Bank.
0:08:08 > 0:08:11Never thought to check out that it wouldn't be anybody else.
0:08:11 > 0:08:16I don't expect somebody else using somebody else's name, like a bank.
0:08:18 > 0:08:21Barclay Collection Management sent a representative
0:08:21 > 0:08:24to meet John and his partner to discuss their case.
0:08:24 > 0:08:28He persuaded them to sign up to the service and pay an upfront fee.
0:08:30 > 0:08:34I think it was about ?1,500, or something, to start with.
0:08:35 > 0:08:37And you think, "Well, that's a lot of money."
0:08:37 > 0:08:39But he tried to justify it by his own costs.
0:08:39 > 0:08:41Costs for this and costs for that.
0:08:41 > 0:08:44He were asking for quite a lot of money in the beginning.
0:08:45 > 0:08:49John was told that he'd get his ?1,500 upfront fee back
0:08:49 > 0:08:52as the costs would be recovered from the other side.
0:08:54 > 0:08:56But over the course of the next few months,
0:08:56 > 0:08:59the company asked John for more and more money.
0:08:59 > 0:09:01Even though nothing ever seemed to get done.
0:09:02 > 0:09:05You could more or less say about ?1,000 a time.
0:09:07 > 0:09:10Which stretched over about eight, nine months.
0:09:12 > 0:09:16Overall, John paid out over ?7,500 to the company,
0:09:16 > 0:09:19hoping to get his debt repaid.
0:09:19 > 0:09:21He was struggling financially,
0:09:21 > 0:09:23but all of a sudden he got the news he'd been waiting for.
0:09:23 > 0:09:28The debt company called and told him the client had finally paid his debt
0:09:28 > 0:09:30and the money was ready to hand over.
0:09:30 > 0:09:33But...there was a catch.
0:09:33 > 0:09:37I had to pay the insurance cost of ?1,500
0:09:37 > 0:09:39to cover their costs
0:09:39 > 0:09:43and I was at the bank ready to pay the money in.
0:09:43 > 0:09:44Luckily, at that very moment,
0:09:44 > 0:09:48John had a phone call from a concerned family member,
0:09:48 > 0:09:51who thought John might have been targeted by fraudsters.
0:09:52 > 0:09:55I had a phone call on my mobile to say, "Don't pay this money.
0:09:56 > 0:09:58"You must not pay this money."
0:09:59 > 0:10:01John realised the very people he trusted
0:10:01 > 0:10:03were the ones he should have feared.
0:10:03 > 0:10:07But he wasn't the only person to be conned.
0:10:07 > 0:10:09Over at North West Trading Standards,
0:10:09 > 0:10:11Officer Walter Dinn was receiving other complaints
0:10:11 > 0:10:15about the debt recovery company.
0:10:15 > 0:10:17We first became aware of the allegations of fraud
0:10:17 > 0:10:20after a gentleman in Coventry
0:10:20 > 0:10:23was defrauded out of a total of, I think, ?8,000.
0:10:23 > 0:10:26It was thought the debt recovery company was fake.
0:10:28 > 0:10:30They promised to recover your debts in full
0:10:30 > 0:10:32within a period of either six or 12 weeks.
0:10:32 > 0:10:36That happened in no case at all that we managed to find.
0:10:36 > 0:10:38Walter investigated further
0:10:38 > 0:10:41and the trail led him to Samaira Sadique
0:10:41 > 0:10:43and her brother Mohammed Ali.
0:10:44 > 0:10:46It's true to say that Samaira Sadique
0:10:46 > 0:10:47was the brains of the outfit.
0:10:47 > 0:10:49And she, day to day, used to call the shots.
0:10:49 > 0:10:52Ali operated as a representative
0:10:52 > 0:10:56and Sadique would deploy Ali to the victims.
0:10:57 > 0:10:59The siblings hooked their victims
0:10:59 > 0:11:03by churning out hundreds of thousands of faxes every day,
0:11:03 > 0:11:06containing false information about their fake company.
0:11:07 > 0:11:09They had fax servers
0:11:09 > 0:11:12and those servers are capable of generating
0:11:12 > 0:11:15between 80,000 and 100,000 unsolicited fax messages a night.
0:11:15 > 0:11:19So businesses and libraries, community centres,
0:11:19 > 0:11:22pubs and clubs were being absolutely inundated by these messages.
0:11:23 > 0:11:28Walter needed hard evidence and so he turned to John for help.
0:11:28 > 0:11:30He arranged for John to set up a phone call
0:11:30 > 0:11:33with the debt recovery company
0:11:33 > 0:11:35and secretly recorded the conversation.
0:11:36 > 0:11:38PHONE RINGS
0:11:46 > 0:11:47The woman reminded John
0:11:47 > 0:11:51he just needed to make a final payment of ?1,800
0:11:51 > 0:11:54and the money he was owed would be released.
0:12:05 > 0:12:08There was no holding account. The debtor had not paid a penny.
0:12:08 > 0:12:09It was a complete pack of lies.
0:12:11 > 0:12:14John had become a target of a type of advanced fee fraud,
0:12:14 > 0:12:16which is when fraudsters persuade victims
0:12:16 > 0:12:19to make advance or upfront payments for goods and services
0:12:19 > 0:12:21that never materialise.
0:12:21 > 0:12:25It is one of the most common types of confidence tricks,
0:12:25 > 0:12:27claiming thousands of victims each year.
0:12:28 > 0:12:31In John's case, Trading Standards suspected the woman on the phone
0:12:31 > 0:12:33was ringleader Samaira Sadique.
0:12:33 > 0:12:36But she'd given herself a fake name on the phone.
0:12:38 > 0:12:40Trading Standards took the recording of the phone call
0:12:40 > 0:12:44to forensic speech consultant Dr Richard Rhodes.
0:12:44 > 0:12:46He analysed the voice of the female caller
0:12:46 > 0:12:49and compared it to a recording of Samaira Sadique
0:12:49 > 0:12:52taken during a police interview.
0:12:53 > 0:12:57Miss Sadique has a quite unusually creaky voice
0:12:57 > 0:13:00and the person's voice and speech patterns were extraordinary similar
0:13:00 > 0:13:02to those of Samaira Sadique
0:13:02 > 0:13:05and that was actually very strong evidence that it was Miss Sadique.
0:13:06 > 0:13:09The huge scale of the fraud being carried out
0:13:09 > 0:13:12by Sadique and her brother was about to unravel.
0:13:13 > 0:13:17Around 100 people had lost money to the fake debt-recovery company,
0:13:17 > 0:13:21with one victim losing over ?44,000 to the pair.
0:13:21 > 0:13:23It's difficult to estimate.
0:13:23 > 0:13:25They didn't keep any business records.
0:13:25 > 0:13:29So it could be ?250,000, ?500,000 of losses in total.
0:13:32 > 0:13:34Finally, there was enough evidence to prosecute
0:13:34 > 0:13:37both Samaira Sadique and her brother Mohammed.
0:13:38 > 0:13:41Sadique pleaded guilty to conspiracy to defraud
0:13:41 > 0:13:43and her brother pleaded guilty
0:13:43 > 0:13:46to defrauding one victim out of ?80,000.
0:13:47 > 0:13:51But there may be no justice for those taken in by their con.
0:13:53 > 0:13:55There is little chance of recovery of the money.
0:13:55 > 0:13:58We think it's gone overseas and it's a difficult matter to recover that.
0:13:58 > 0:14:00The victims, I'm afraid, have lost their money.
0:14:03 > 0:14:06John paid out ?7,500 to the fakers,
0:14:06 > 0:14:10on top of the ?11,500 he was already owed.
0:14:11 > 0:14:14All of which he'd expected to see come back.
0:14:16 > 0:14:17But it never came back.
0:14:17 > 0:14:19He had to close down his company.
0:14:19 > 0:14:21He had to let eight employees go.
0:14:22 > 0:14:26John's former showroom has since been taken over by another business.
0:14:26 > 0:14:28Very upset.
0:14:28 > 0:14:32And it was very hard having to shut down and tell people.
0:14:32 > 0:14:35And I think it's one of the worst things you can be in
0:14:35 > 0:14:37is a scam like that.
0:14:43 > 0:14:45FOOD BLENDER WHIRS
0:14:46 > 0:14:48This gadget might help you get healthier
0:14:48 > 0:14:52because its powerful motor is supposed to pulverise fruit and veg
0:14:52 > 0:14:54to create more wholesome drinks.
0:14:54 > 0:14:57What this one is actually doing, though, I'm not sure.
0:14:57 > 0:15:00It's a fake. This is the real thing, the Nutribullet.
0:15:00 > 0:15:03It's become the latest must-have kitchen gadget.
0:15:03 > 0:15:05And look, they're virtually identical,
0:15:05 > 0:15:08except, while this might be good for you,
0:15:08 > 0:15:11the fake here might be very bad.
0:15:11 > 0:15:13MAN: It's a UK phenomenon.
0:15:15 > 0:15:18Health conscious Brits have gone mad for blenders,
0:15:18 > 0:15:21especially ones like the Nutribullet.
0:15:21 > 0:15:24Its inventors say its powerful motor helps release more nutrients
0:15:24 > 0:15:27than a regular blender
0:15:27 > 0:15:30and one million of them have been sold in the UK alone.
0:15:31 > 0:15:34MAN: This technology cracks through the stems
0:15:34 > 0:15:37and busts open cores and seeds so it's fully broken down.
0:15:39 > 0:15:42Katrina Blake, from West Yorkshire, was hoping to lose some weight
0:15:42 > 0:15:44by using a blender to eat more healthily.
0:15:46 > 0:15:49We're doing some renovations at home, so eating a lot of fast food.
0:15:49 > 0:15:51I thought this seemed a good way
0:15:51 > 0:15:52to get my five a day
0:15:52 > 0:15:54and get some fruit and veg into myself and my husband,
0:15:54 > 0:15:57who doesn't really like eating fruit and vegetables.
0:15:59 > 0:16:03Katrina went online to find a good deal and bought one for ?75.
0:16:03 > 0:16:06When it arrived, she couldn't wait to get started.
0:16:06 > 0:16:08I was getting ready for work one morning
0:16:08 > 0:16:11and I prepared all my fruit and vegetables
0:16:11 > 0:16:13and put the Nutribullet on.
0:16:13 > 0:16:17Literally, I was 30 seconds. I ran upstairs to grab my bag.
0:16:17 > 0:16:20I came back downstairs and my husband was shouting in the kitchen.
0:16:20 > 0:16:23So Katrina rushed in to see what the problem was.
0:16:23 > 0:16:25I thought the house was on fire.
0:16:25 > 0:16:28There was such a smell of fresh smoke.
0:16:28 > 0:16:31There was smoke coming out of the bottom of the Nutribullet.
0:16:31 > 0:16:35The kitchen was filling with smoke and Katrina had to act quickly.
0:16:35 > 0:16:37I just kept thinking, "It's going to blow up.
0:16:37 > 0:16:40"It's going to set the tea towel on fire that's sat at the side of it."
0:16:40 > 0:16:43So I quickly unplugged it and took it outside.
0:16:45 > 0:16:47Katrina had narrowly escaped
0:16:47 > 0:16:50what might have been a catastrophic house fire.
0:16:50 > 0:16:53She tried to contact the seller, but got nowhere.
0:16:53 > 0:16:56So instead, she got in touch with High Street TV,
0:16:56 > 0:16:59Nutribullet's official UK distributors.
0:16:59 > 0:17:02They asked her to send in some photos of her blender
0:17:02 > 0:17:06and she was shocked when it was revealed that it was a fake.
0:17:06 > 0:17:08I thought, if I bought something,
0:17:08 > 0:17:11I thought it'd be real and legitimate.
0:17:11 > 0:17:12I couldn't believe it.
0:17:15 > 0:17:18Andrew Malcher is the boss of High Street TV.
0:17:18 > 0:17:22Katrina's fake isn't the first one he's heard about.
0:17:22 > 0:17:25Unfortunately, a number of consumers now contacted us
0:17:25 > 0:17:27with the disappointing news
0:17:27 > 0:17:30that they have indeed purchased a fake product.
0:17:30 > 0:17:32Good afternoon. You're through to High Street TV.
0:17:32 > 0:17:33How can I help you today?
0:17:34 > 0:17:35His company's call centre
0:17:35 > 0:17:38is inundated with calls from disgruntled customers
0:17:38 > 0:17:40who've bought fakes.
0:17:40 > 0:17:42And that number is increasing all the time.
0:17:42 > 0:17:44We have hundreds on a monthly basis.
0:17:44 > 0:17:46Andrew showed us the difference
0:17:46 > 0:17:49between the fake units and the genuine item.
0:17:50 > 0:17:52So here we have some examples.
0:17:52 > 0:17:55We have items here that look like original Nutribullets,
0:17:55 > 0:17:58yet, one of them is, in fact, a counterfeit.
0:17:58 > 0:18:01The telltale signs are, for example,
0:18:01 > 0:18:03if we turn the unit to the back,
0:18:03 > 0:18:05first of all, what we'll see here
0:18:05 > 0:18:08is a number of certification marks.
0:18:08 > 0:18:11Whereas the counterfeit unit doesn't have them at all.
0:18:11 > 0:18:15It's not been safety checked in any way and it's an illegal unit.
0:18:17 > 0:18:20The unit itself is actually heavier than the counterfeit unit.
0:18:20 > 0:18:21It's a lot lighter.
0:18:22 > 0:18:24So if we check that out,
0:18:24 > 0:18:28we'll find there it's around 1,950 grams.
0:18:28 > 0:18:30We then take the counterfeit item
0:18:30 > 0:18:34and you can specifically see that it's about 200 grams less in weight.
0:18:34 > 0:18:38And that's because the motor inside that is an inferior motor
0:18:38 > 0:18:40which has not passed safety standards.
0:18:41 > 0:18:43And the fakes are just as bad on the inside.
0:18:45 > 0:18:47What we see here, for example,
0:18:47 > 0:18:50this is a very, very high-quality piece of steel.
0:18:50 > 0:18:53Whereas this unit, upon even touching it,
0:18:53 > 0:18:57you can feel that it's an inferior quality on the counterfeit.
0:18:57 > 0:19:00Fake Nutribullets are not just being sold online,
0:19:00 > 0:19:03they are also for sale on the high street.
0:19:03 > 0:19:05And back in the call centre
0:19:05 > 0:19:08they have received information that suspected fake blenders
0:19:08 > 0:19:11are being sold to shoppers in central London.
0:19:11 > 0:19:15Jennifer Farry from High Street TV is going to check it out.
0:19:15 > 0:19:16We've been tipped off
0:19:16 > 0:19:19that there is a guy selling counterfeit Nutribullets.
0:19:19 > 0:19:21So I am about to go and purchase one and see if they are real or not.
0:19:23 > 0:19:25Soon Jennifer is back with her purchase.
0:19:25 > 0:19:27Time to see if it's a fake.
0:19:28 > 0:19:31I've just purchased the Nutribullet from the store.
0:19:31 > 0:19:33And at first glance, you can be easily be fooled
0:19:33 > 0:19:36into thinking it is a genuine Nutribullet.
0:19:36 > 0:19:39But I can tell instantly from the packaging that it's not real.
0:19:41 > 0:19:44On first looking at it, I can tell again that it's not real
0:19:44 > 0:19:47because of the tacky plastic bottom.
0:19:48 > 0:19:51You wouldn't get that on the genuine Nutribullet.
0:19:51 > 0:19:53And if I actually pull the entire device out,
0:19:53 > 0:19:56on the back you should have safety marks on here, again,
0:19:56 > 0:19:58that you would find on a genuine Nutribullet.
0:19:58 > 0:20:00Which, again, aren't on here.
0:20:00 > 0:20:03And that was easily picked up, literally just at a stall
0:20:03 > 0:20:05on a busy high street in London.
0:20:05 > 0:20:08The fake blenders are clearly selling well.
0:20:08 > 0:20:10While I was inside purchasing one for myself,
0:20:10 > 0:20:12there was three other customers behind me
0:20:12 > 0:20:13also buying one for themselves.
0:20:13 > 0:20:15He's obviously doing great business with this.
0:20:15 > 0:20:19However, you can't guarantee these counterfeit Nutribullets are safe.
0:20:20 > 0:20:23There are concerns that these machines are dangerous.
0:20:23 > 0:20:25So Fake Britain took a fake blender
0:20:25 > 0:20:28to independent safety expert Steve Curtler,
0:20:28 > 0:20:31from Electrical Safety First.
0:20:31 > 0:20:34Steve will simulate a fault to put the fake to the test.
0:20:35 > 0:20:38The test that we're going to apply to the fake Nutribullet
0:20:38 > 0:20:40is one that's foreseeable condition,
0:20:40 > 0:20:44where a fruit stone or something locks the motor
0:20:44 > 0:20:48and then the motor will start to heat up.
0:20:49 > 0:20:50When the motor overheats,
0:20:50 > 0:20:54a built-in safety feature should shut the blender down,
0:20:54 > 0:20:56in order to prevent any injury or fire risk.
0:20:58 > 0:20:59BLENDER WHIRS
0:20:59 > 0:21:00The test gets under way.
0:21:02 > 0:21:04But the blender's not shutting down.
0:21:04 > 0:21:07Things are obviously getting very warm, very quickly.
0:21:07 > 0:21:09And Steve is concerned about the smoke.
0:21:09 > 0:21:12The bit that you can't see
0:21:12 > 0:21:14is the toxic fumes that are being released
0:21:14 > 0:21:17from the damage being caused by the heat.
0:21:17 > 0:21:19And it really does get to the back of your throat
0:21:19 > 0:21:21to the point where it feels like you can't breathe.
0:21:21 > 0:21:24If this was in your kitchen letting off those fumes,
0:21:24 > 0:21:27it would be a serious hazard.
0:21:28 > 0:21:31This fake has definitely failed the safety tests.
0:21:31 > 0:21:35But it's not the worst that Steve has seen.
0:21:35 > 0:21:37We've proved today that, out of the test samples we've got,
0:21:37 > 0:21:39the fake Nutribullet is unsafe.
0:21:39 > 0:21:43But we've had far more dramatic results and more hazardous results
0:21:43 > 0:21:44in the past with testing.
0:21:46 > 0:21:49With potentially flammable fakes like this one on sale in the high street,
0:21:49 > 0:21:51Steve Curtler is concerned.
0:21:52 > 0:21:55The main issue you're looking at here is something overheating
0:21:55 > 0:21:57without the right protection.
0:21:57 > 0:21:58It's just in the laps of the gods
0:21:58 > 0:22:02whether or not this thing catches fire or explodes.
0:22:02 > 0:22:04So that's the main issue with these,
0:22:04 > 0:22:06is that it could cause a serious fire.
0:22:14 > 0:22:17Earlier on Fake Britain, we followed police and Trading Standards
0:22:17 > 0:22:20cracking down on a suspected memorabilia faker.
0:22:21 > 0:22:24We've got bags and bags of blank shirts.
0:22:26 > 0:22:28Whether it's to do with sports or pop music,
0:22:28 > 0:22:32collectible memorabilia is now a multimillion-pound industry,
0:22:32 > 0:22:35popular with teenage fans and adult collectors alike.
0:22:36 > 0:22:40At this established and reputable memorabilia fair in Kensington,
0:22:40 > 0:22:45big money changes hands for celebrity-signed merchandise.
0:22:45 > 0:22:48But fake memorabilia of all sorts is on the rise,
0:22:48 > 0:22:51with people across the country losing hundreds
0:22:51 > 0:22:53and, in some cases, thousands of pounds.
0:22:57 > 0:22:59Jane Body, from Hampshire,
0:22:59 > 0:23:01is a lifelong Manchester United fan
0:23:01 > 0:23:04and loves to buy anything to do with her club or her heroes.
0:23:06 > 0:23:09My parents left me some money when they died
0:23:09 > 0:23:11and I was debating on what to do with it.
0:23:11 > 0:23:14I'd wanted to use it for something so it would help me remember them
0:23:14 > 0:23:17and I thought, "What better than my passion for football?"
0:23:17 > 0:23:22I love football. So I thought, "I'll buy as much as I can."
0:23:22 > 0:23:24And then I found Steve.
0:23:24 > 0:23:26That was when I started spending a lot of money.
0:23:27 > 0:23:29The Steve in question was Steve Pearson.
0:23:29 > 0:23:32He'd risen through the local community
0:23:32 > 0:23:36to become a stadium announcer at Portsmouth Football Club.
0:23:36 > 0:23:38He scored the goal!
0:23:41 > 0:23:44Pearson opened a shop selling sporting memorabilia.
0:23:44 > 0:23:48He was fast gaining local celebrity status and Jane was impressed.
0:23:49 > 0:23:51Steve was a brilliant person.
0:23:51 > 0:23:54You went in the shop, he was chatty and friendly
0:23:54 > 0:23:56and gave you cups of tea
0:23:56 > 0:23:59and talked very knowledgeable about, you know, football.
0:23:59 > 0:24:03And so everything that he sold you, you'd think, "Oh, it's wonderful."
0:24:03 > 0:24:06You know, it's signed by this player, signed by that player.
0:24:07 > 0:24:08Jane couldn't resist.
0:24:08 > 0:24:12She was drawn in by Pearson's seemingly encyclopaedic knowledge
0:24:12 > 0:24:13of sporting memorabilia.
0:24:15 > 0:24:19Before long, she was spending vast sums of money in the shop.
0:24:19 > 0:24:25I've spent about ?9,000 plus, on, like, for instance,
0:24:25 > 0:24:27my Bobby Moore shirt.
0:24:27 > 0:24:29Maradona. A Messi shirt.
0:24:29 > 0:24:31Cruyff. Cantona.
0:24:31 > 0:24:33Programmes, as well.
0:24:33 > 0:24:37I've got some 1968 European final programmes
0:24:37 > 0:24:40and that's got four signatures on it, which look wonderful.
0:24:42 > 0:24:45At first glance, everything that Jane was spending
0:24:45 > 0:24:49thousands of pounds of her inheritance on did look wonderful.
0:24:49 > 0:24:52Suddenly, she got a call from Trading Standards.
0:24:53 > 0:24:55Jane was about to discover
0:24:55 > 0:24:58that Pearson and his glossy signed sports memorabilia
0:24:58 > 0:25:00were not all they appeared to be.
0:25:02 > 0:25:04Somebody informed Trading Standards
0:25:04 > 0:25:08that they thought Steve Pearson was selling fake goods.
0:25:09 > 0:25:11I thought, you know,
0:25:11 > 0:25:14"It is probably just somebody's got a gripe against Steve or something."
0:25:14 > 0:25:18I was still going down the shop once or twice a week.
0:25:18 > 0:25:20And then I suddenly realised
0:25:20 > 0:25:23the second time he came round and warned me
0:25:23 > 0:25:25not to go down the shop any more.
0:25:25 > 0:25:27I realised then I was in trouble.
0:25:27 > 0:25:30Trading Standards Service. Craig Copeland speaking.
0:25:31 > 0:25:34The Portsmouth Trading Standards Officer who called Jane
0:25:34 > 0:25:36was Craig Copeland.
0:25:36 > 0:25:38Craig had been getting some very worrying phone calls
0:25:38 > 0:25:42about Steve Pearson and the signed memorabilia that he was selling.
0:25:43 > 0:25:46The allegations against him were that
0:25:46 > 0:25:48they were either purchased counterfeit goods
0:25:48 > 0:25:50that he was selling off as genuine
0:25:50 > 0:25:57or that he was actually creating these signatures on the products.
0:25:59 > 0:26:02Pearson was selling all sorts of memorabilia
0:26:02 > 0:26:03out of two high street shops
0:26:03 > 0:26:06to everyone, from collectors spending thousands
0:26:06 > 0:26:08to teenagers spending their pocket money.
0:26:11 > 0:26:14So, here we are at what used to be Hall Of Fame.
0:26:14 > 0:26:17It's now a perfectly legitimate business,
0:26:17 > 0:26:19being operated out of here,
0:26:19 > 0:26:21but this was the place where our victims would come.
0:26:21 > 0:26:24They would feel like part of a club.
0:26:24 > 0:26:27They were drawn in by stories of his days at Fratton Park.
0:26:29 > 0:26:32Allegations about Steve Pearson selling fake memorabilia
0:26:32 > 0:26:34were now flooding in.
0:26:34 > 0:26:37It was time for Trading Standards to draft in an expert opinion.
0:26:37 > 0:26:43So they turned to leading autograph memorabilia specialist Gary King.
0:26:43 > 0:26:45His knowledge of memorabilia, both real and fake,
0:26:45 > 0:26:48has helped to bring dozens of prosecutions
0:26:48 > 0:26:51and even put one fraudster behind bars.
0:26:51 > 0:26:55Gary believes that fake memorabilia is rife across the country.
0:26:56 > 0:27:00Fake memorabilia is a serious problem.
0:27:00 > 0:27:03In particular, in the sports world.
0:27:03 > 0:27:05Signed shirts, photographs, that sort of thing,
0:27:05 > 0:27:09it's a massive, massive problem for anybody,
0:27:09 > 0:27:11if you are a collector or if you are a dealer.
0:27:11 > 0:27:16There are so many items out there that are just absolute rubbish.
0:27:17 > 0:27:20It was up to Gary to examine Jane's football memorabilia
0:27:20 > 0:27:23and to break some very bad news.
0:27:23 > 0:27:25Yes. It's certainly not Peter Shilton.
0:27:25 > 0:27:28No. And that is definitely not Bobby Charlton.
0:27:28 > 0:27:31The signatures of footballing legends Peter Shilton,
0:27:31 > 0:27:34Bobby Charlton, Ronaldinho...
0:27:34 > 0:27:36I would say that that is not authentic. Look.
0:27:36 > 0:27:38..all of them fake.
0:27:40 > 0:27:43Gary established that Jane's rare signed programme
0:27:43 > 0:27:45from the 1968 Euro Cup Final,
0:27:45 > 0:27:48which should have been worth up to ?300, if genuine,
0:27:48 > 0:27:50was not what it seemed.
0:27:51 > 0:27:54"What a collector's item," I thought.
0:27:54 > 0:27:56Unfortunately, this, too, is also fake.
0:27:56 > 0:27:59And none of them are original signatures.
0:28:00 > 0:28:02They're all fake.
0:28:02 > 0:28:05Jane is fascinated by Bobby Moore, the England captain,
0:28:05 > 0:28:09who famously held the World Cup aloft after England's 1966 win.
0:28:09 > 0:28:12So her biggest purchase from Pearson
0:28:12 > 0:28:14was a signed Bobby Moore shirt.
0:28:14 > 0:28:16Very proud of this. It was out in my hall.
0:28:16 > 0:28:18It's like a Holy Grail, really.
0:28:18 > 0:28:23And then you find, no, it's not Bobby Moore.
0:28:23 > 0:28:26?650 plus ?150 for the frame.
0:28:28 > 0:28:30And it was a fake shirt.
0:28:30 > 0:28:33And now I've got a house full of stuff that's...
0:28:33 > 0:28:35that's no use to anybody now.
0:28:35 > 0:28:37It's devastating, really.
0:28:39 > 0:28:43Jane had unwittingly surrounded herself with fake memorabilia
0:28:43 > 0:28:46worth far less than she paid for it.
0:28:46 > 0:28:50But at least one good thing was to come out of this.
0:28:50 > 0:28:52Gary King's analysis of the fakes
0:28:52 > 0:28:55gave Craig and the team at Portsmouth Trading Standards
0:28:55 > 0:28:59enough evidence to finally raid Steve Pearson's property.
0:28:59 > 0:29:02They were shocked by the scale of what they found.
0:29:02 > 0:29:05Over 100 items of fake signed memorabilia.
0:29:05 > 0:29:08And not just football.
0:29:08 > 0:29:12This is a glove containing the signature of Muhammad Ali.
0:29:12 > 0:29:16It's definitely not the signature of Muhammad Ali.
0:29:16 > 0:29:20We found one of these on sale in his shop for ?900.
0:29:20 > 0:29:22It's a massive amount
0:29:22 > 0:29:24and anybody who is going to part with that much money
0:29:24 > 0:29:28to get an item like this, I mean, is going to be absolutely devastated.
0:29:28 > 0:29:32And it turns out that Steve Pearson was also into his music.
0:29:32 > 0:29:34So here we've got a guitar,
0:29:34 > 0:29:37which is supposedly signed by three members of Queen.
0:29:37 > 0:29:41So that would be John Deacon, Roger Taylor and Brian May.
0:29:41 > 0:29:44This is definitely not a legitimate item.
0:29:44 > 0:29:47These signatures are fake signatures.
0:29:47 > 0:29:51Pearson's fakery even infected the certificates of authenticity
0:29:51 > 0:29:53that came with the memorabilia
0:29:53 > 0:29:56to fool people into thinking it was the real deal.
0:29:56 > 0:29:59They basically outline that he's purchasing
0:29:59 > 0:30:01only from reputable dealers,
0:30:01 > 0:30:04that he's a member of a trade organisation.
0:30:04 > 0:30:06And this, of course, is completely not the case.
0:30:06 > 0:30:09He has no...no expertise in the industry,
0:30:09 > 0:30:11He's never been a member of the trade associations
0:30:11 > 0:30:13that he claimed to be
0:30:13 > 0:30:15and these are not worth the paper they're printed on.
0:30:17 > 0:30:19Pearson had fooled dozens of collectors
0:30:19 > 0:30:21with his fake memorabilia,
0:30:21 > 0:30:24but he wasn't just targeting super fans.
0:30:24 > 0:30:27He was also targeting investors.
0:30:27 > 0:30:30Jim Conway, from Portsmouth, invests in rare memorabilia.
0:30:30 > 0:30:33He collects everything from cars to guitars.
0:30:33 > 0:30:36In total, with Steve Pearson,
0:30:36 > 0:30:42I approximately spent ?6,000-?7,000 over five years.
0:30:42 > 0:30:46I will spend, not only just to build up a nice collection,
0:30:46 > 0:30:49but later on, it would be me pension money
0:30:49 > 0:30:51and one day I'll say,
0:30:51 > 0:30:54"Oh, I'll sell it now and get a nice lump back."
0:30:54 > 0:30:57Hopefully, it was going to go up in value.
0:30:57 > 0:30:58Let's see what you've got.
0:31:02 > 0:31:03As an expert witness in the case,
0:31:03 > 0:31:06Gary had to examine some of the memorabilia
0:31:06 > 0:31:08that Jim bought from Steve Pearson,
0:31:08 > 0:31:10but he hasn't yet seen everything.
0:31:10 > 0:31:12Today, he's visiting Jim
0:31:12 > 0:31:15to see if he might be able to bring some good news.
0:31:16 > 0:31:19Let's have a look. Well, that's not Tiger Woods.
0:31:19 > 0:31:22I don't recall seeing an item signed by Tiger Woods
0:31:22 > 0:31:24where he's also added "good luck".
0:31:24 > 0:31:26No. That's not authentic.
0:31:27 > 0:31:30Gary also examines this apparently rare photograph
0:31:30 > 0:31:32signed by John Lennon.
0:31:32 > 0:31:33Now, how much did you pay for this?
0:31:33 > 0:31:36About 200. ?200?
0:31:36 > 0:31:38It's printed.
0:31:38 > 0:31:41As a print, it's probably something you could buy, you know,
0:31:41 > 0:31:45in a shop somewhere for nothing more than ?10.
0:31:46 > 0:31:48Wow. I'm sorry about that. Really am.
0:31:48 > 0:31:51Because I know how much people get attached, you know,
0:31:51 > 0:31:56to these things and then, sadly, you find out the truth...
0:31:56 > 0:31:58Yeah. ..unfortunately, when it's too late.
0:31:58 > 0:32:00Right.
0:32:01 > 0:32:04But Jim hasn't only bought memorabilia
0:32:04 > 0:32:05from Steve Pearson over the years.
0:32:05 > 0:32:07He's been an investor for decades
0:32:07 > 0:32:11and bought a range of signed electric guitars from other sellers
0:32:11 > 0:32:13before he even knew about Steve Pearson.
0:32:13 > 0:32:17During filming, Gary spots them and decides to take a closer look.
0:32:18 > 0:32:22This one is meant to be the Rolling Stones.
0:32:22 > 0:32:27So we've got Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Ronnie Wood.
0:32:27 > 0:32:29This is Charlie Watts.
0:32:29 > 0:32:31And I honestly have no idea...
0:32:33 > 0:32:36..who that one is meant to be at all. OK.
0:32:36 > 0:32:39But they are not authentic.
0:32:39 > 0:32:42That was signed in somebody's bedroom.
0:32:42 > 0:32:44And this one here.
0:32:44 > 0:32:46This one's pink... Yeah. ..but it's not Pink Floyd.
0:32:46 > 0:32:49They are very difficult to get signatures from.
0:32:49 > 0:32:53Dave Gilmour, in particular, is a very tough signature to get.
0:32:53 > 0:32:55He doesn't like signing things like this.
0:32:55 > 0:32:57He knows you're going to sell it.
0:32:57 > 0:33:00Shockingly, these aren't the only unexpected fakes
0:33:00 > 0:33:02in Jim's collection.
0:33:02 > 0:33:05Bruce, Cliff, The Eagles, they're all fake.
0:33:05 > 0:33:07I expected Steve Pearson's to be fake,
0:33:07 > 0:33:11because of the nature of the investigation and the court case.
0:33:11 > 0:33:13But obviously I didn't expect these to be fake,
0:33:13 > 0:33:15which never even come from...
0:33:15 > 0:33:17Unfortunately, Steve Pearson is not the only person
0:33:17 > 0:33:21who's faking this stuff and then selling it online.
0:33:21 > 0:33:24It's very, very easy for people to do, that's the problem.
0:33:24 > 0:33:26It's upsetting, isn't it? Yeah.
0:33:26 > 0:33:27Yeah. I'm not collecting no more.
0:33:27 > 0:33:30Not interested. You shouldn't let it put you off.
0:33:30 > 0:33:32Yes, it'll be the last ones I buy.
0:33:33 > 0:33:36It has put me off collecting, you know?
0:33:36 > 0:33:40Because there's so many unscrupulous people out there, and as I said,
0:33:40 > 0:33:42I thought Steve Pearson was a friend,
0:33:42 > 0:33:45but, obviously, he was just lining his own pockets.
0:33:45 > 0:33:49Steve Pearson eventually pleaded guilty to 13 counts of fraud
0:33:49 > 0:33:53and was ordered to pay over ?2,500 compensation to his victims.
0:33:55 > 0:33:57He was sentenced to 14 months in prison,
0:33:57 > 0:34:02suspended for two years and given 200 hours' community service.
0:34:02 > 0:34:06But it will take Jim and Jane longer than that to get over their loss.
0:34:07 > 0:34:08JANE: It's the fact he's got me,
0:34:08 > 0:34:10it's the fact he's done everybody else.
0:34:12 > 0:34:15Um... What are you feeling right now?
0:34:16 > 0:34:18Upset with him. Angry with him.
0:34:20 > 0:34:23You're just kind of shattered because, all of a sudden,
0:34:23 > 0:34:26you've got a room full of stuff that's not worth anything.
0:34:27 > 0:34:30The amount of money that I've lost will always be with me.
0:34:37 > 0:34:39This looks a bit like a strange glove,
0:34:39 > 0:34:41but it's actually a running shoe,
0:34:41 > 0:34:45so thin that it apparently feels like running in bare feet.
0:34:45 > 0:34:47It's called the Vibram Five Fingers.
0:34:47 > 0:34:51The inventors of this so-called barefoot running shoe
0:34:51 > 0:34:54think it gives runners a more natural running experience.
0:34:54 > 0:34:58But you would do better to leave this one in your locker
0:34:58 > 0:34:59because it's fake.
0:34:59 > 0:35:03And as we're about to find out, running in this could cause injury.
0:35:07 > 0:35:11Running, love it or hate it, over 10 million of us do it regularly,
0:35:11 > 0:35:14whether it's trotting to the shops or training for a triathlon.
0:35:16 > 0:35:17And trainers are big business,
0:35:17 > 0:35:21forming a global industry worth over ?40 billion.
0:35:22 > 0:35:24As we've seen on Fake Britain,
0:35:24 > 0:35:27the fakers are after some of those profits.
0:35:27 > 0:35:30Here at London Thamesport, in Kent,
0:35:30 > 0:35:34officers intercepted a suspect shipment.
0:35:34 > 0:35:37We've done some paperwork checks on two containers
0:35:37 > 0:35:39that arrived last week.
0:35:39 > 0:35:41The goods inside them may be counterfeit.
0:35:42 > 0:35:45Fake trainers were thought to be inside these boxes.
0:35:49 > 0:35:51You can see how far back it goes.
0:35:51 > 0:35:53There'll be about 4,000 boxes in this container.
0:35:55 > 0:35:59It was confirmed that the boxes contained high-end fake trainers.
0:36:00 > 0:36:02Here we have a Tiger brand trainer.
0:36:03 > 0:36:07The container's full of these, about 4,000 pairs.
0:36:07 > 0:36:09As you can see, it's very good quality.
0:36:09 > 0:36:11I think that's a good fake.
0:36:12 > 0:36:15In the second container, the officers found
0:36:15 > 0:36:17other different brands of high-end fakes.
0:36:17 > 0:36:20These are Adidas trainers, very high quality.
0:36:20 > 0:36:22They look like the genuine article
0:36:22 > 0:36:24but the mark holder has confirmed
0:36:24 > 0:36:26that they are, in fact, counterfeit goods.
0:36:27 > 0:36:29Shoes, including trainers,
0:36:29 > 0:36:31are one of the most faked products in the world.
0:36:31 > 0:36:33Tiger brand again.
0:36:34 > 0:36:38Many of the fakes enter the country through major ports like this one
0:36:38 > 0:36:41and this huge interception was a big win for the authorities.
0:36:41 > 0:36:44We have about 9,000 pairs of trainers here
0:36:44 > 0:36:46that have come in from Hong Kong.
0:36:46 > 0:36:49We're now certain that they are counterfeit goods.
0:36:49 > 0:36:53Either Adidas or Tiger brand, both of which are very desirable brands.
0:36:53 > 0:36:57With 9,000 pairs, that's obviously a considerable amount of money.
0:37:00 > 0:37:03But a new type of running shoe has emerged onto the market,
0:37:03 > 0:37:05the barefoot running shoe,
0:37:05 > 0:37:08and so fakers are now turning their attention
0:37:08 > 0:37:11to the billion pound barefoot running industry.
0:37:11 > 0:37:14They're focusing on shoe's like the Vibram Five Fingers,
0:37:14 > 0:37:16as Alison Beedle, from South London, discovered.
0:37:17 > 0:37:20I initially got into barefoot training shoes
0:37:20 > 0:37:21about four, five years ago.
0:37:21 > 0:37:24I got a bit hooked and I've been wearing them ever since.
0:37:25 > 0:37:28Alison has got six pairs of barefoot running shoes,
0:37:28 > 0:37:30one for every occasion, if you like.
0:37:31 > 0:37:34These are for use for kind of studio, in the gym.
0:37:34 > 0:37:36These are my latest ones.
0:37:36 > 0:37:38They're slightly thicker at the bottom.
0:37:38 > 0:37:40And then these are probably the most comfortable ones.
0:37:40 > 0:37:43They're more like my slip-on casual shoe.
0:37:43 > 0:37:47Alison teaches personal fitness and barefoot running.
0:37:47 > 0:37:49She gets through a lot of running shoes.
0:37:49 > 0:37:52When she needed a new pair, she went online to find a good deal.
0:37:53 > 0:37:55It looked a fairly decent website.
0:37:55 > 0:37:57It had lots of different types
0:37:57 > 0:37:59of brilliant colour ones that I didn't have, as well,
0:37:59 > 0:38:01so I was kind of a little bit excited.
0:38:03 > 0:38:08Alison went ahead and ordered three pairs of shoes for about ?150,
0:38:08 > 0:38:10a good saving on the full price.
0:38:10 > 0:38:13The package arrived and she couldn't wait
0:38:13 > 0:38:15to try on the new running shoes.
0:38:15 > 0:38:17But the delivery wasn't what she expected.
0:38:19 > 0:38:20I was a little confused at first,
0:38:20 > 0:38:23because they weren't the ones I ordered in the first place.
0:38:23 > 0:38:26The colours were different, the styles were different.
0:38:26 > 0:38:28On closer inspection, Alison realised
0:38:28 > 0:38:31it was more than just the colours she needed to worry about.
0:38:33 > 0:38:35I thought, "Let me put it on my feet
0:38:35 > 0:38:37"and let my feet see how they feel about it."
0:38:37 > 0:38:40They were too big, they didn't fit across the top of the foot,
0:38:40 > 0:38:43they were wide around the toes and you could see the stitching.
0:38:43 > 0:38:46They were kind of baggy, they were baggy round the ankle,
0:38:46 > 0:38:48baggy round the top of the foot and they felt absolutely terrible.
0:38:51 > 0:38:54Alison had to go back to running around in her old shoes,
0:38:54 > 0:38:58but she was annoyed at having wasted ?150 of her money.
0:39:01 > 0:39:03So she decided to send photos of them
0:39:03 > 0:39:07to the shoe's UK distributor - Primal Lifestyle.
0:39:07 > 0:39:10And within hours, they'd literally rattled off a letter
0:39:10 > 0:39:13stating that these were fake Vibrams.
0:39:13 > 0:39:17I'd also ordered some for a friend and she'd paid me, as well,
0:39:17 > 0:39:20so I thought, "Oh, I've wasted my friend's money, as well."
0:39:20 > 0:39:21So I had a little bit of a panic.
0:39:21 > 0:39:24I thought, "Goodness me, I've spent over ?150 and they're fake."
0:39:28 > 0:39:30After showing evidence of her fake purchase,
0:39:30 > 0:39:33Alison was finally able to get a refund from her bank.
0:39:34 > 0:39:36But there are thousands more fakes out there,
0:39:36 > 0:39:38leaving runners across the country
0:39:38 > 0:39:42hundreds of pounds out of pocket at a time.
0:39:43 > 0:39:48We spoke to Jerome Sicard from brand protection company MarkMonitor.
0:39:48 > 0:39:52His investigations have uncovered fakery of Vibrams on a huge scale,
0:39:52 > 0:39:56potentially affecting thousands of customers.
0:39:56 > 0:40:00The first few weeks of policing the internet for these guys,
0:40:00 > 0:40:04we closed down in excess of 120 individual websites
0:40:04 > 0:40:06that sold counterfeited Vibrams.
0:40:06 > 0:40:10We've removed 300,000 products almost.
0:40:10 > 0:40:13It doesn't take long for Jerome to hunt down the sites
0:40:13 > 0:40:15selling fake running shoes.
0:40:15 > 0:40:18So just today, we found a new website.
0:40:18 > 0:40:21The domain name is .co.uk,
0:40:21 > 0:40:23so clearly targeting the UK market.
0:40:23 > 0:40:25And when you look at the products,
0:40:25 > 0:40:28the first price that is offered to you is dollars.
0:40:28 > 0:40:30The shipping and return information,
0:40:30 > 0:40:35they probably copied that directly from Vibram's legitimate site.
0:40:35 > 0:40:39All those things together tell you that clearly a counterfeit website
0:40:39 > 0:40:42and definitely one of those that we will take down for Vibram.
0:40:45 > 0:40:46Fake Britain went online
0:40:46 > 0:40:50and bought one of the many pairs of fake Vibrams on sale.
0:40:53 > 0:40:55We showed them to the Italian inventor
0:40:55 > 0:40:59of the original barefoot running shoe, Robert Fliri.
0:40:59 > 0:41:02He compared them to the genuine article.
0:41:02 > 0:41:05If you watch the original,
0:41:05 > 0:41:08we have a really flexible sole, like a second skin,
0:41:08 > 0:41:10allows to grab the ground,
0:41:10 > 0:41:14which is the main feature of what the feet can do
0:41:14 > 0:41:16in Fivefingers shoes.
0:41:18 > 0:41:22But what does he make of the fake shoes we bought online?
0:41:23 > 0:41:27In the case of the fakes, the sole is really stiff,
0:41:27 > 0:41:29so you almost cannot bend these toes.
0:41:29 > 0:41:34This doesn't provide nothing more than a five-toed shoe.
0:41:36 > 0:41:40The whole thing, it's not balanced, nobody's spent time on making this.
0:41:40 > 0:41:45It's just to mimic as good as possible the look of the original.
0:41:46 > 0:41:51But what might the fake shoes do to your feet if you run in them?
0:41:51 > 0:41:53Matt Woolden, from the shoe's UK distributor,
0:41:53 > 0:41:56agreed to put our fake shoes through their paces.
0:41:58 > 0:42:00So this is a bit kind of loose
0:42:00 > 0:42:02so it's more difficult to get the toes in.
0:42:04 > 0:42:06If he can ever get them on, that is.
0:42:07 > 0:42:09Made a bit of a hole in that. In fact, two holes in that one,
0:42:09 > 0:42:11despite pulling it on.
0:42:11 > 0:42:13And it's quite baggy around here.
0:42:15 > 0:42:17The fakes are already disintegrating,
0:42:17 > 0:42:20but what do they feel like to run in?
0:42:20 > 0:42:22Around the toes, there was some discomfort,
0:42:22 > 0:42:25particularly around the second and third toes on both feet, actually.
0:42:25 > 0:42:28It didn't feel nearly as nice.
0:42:28 > 0:42:30I imagine it would be a very quick process
0:42:30 > 0:42:33to get blisters in multiple places from these fake shoes.
0:42:38 > 0:42:40The danger of injury to feet from fake barefoot running shoes
0:42:40 > 0:42:42is very real.
0:42:44 > 0:42:47Fake Britain was contacted by a member of the public,
0:42:47 > 0:42:49who sent us photos of his fake Vibrams.
0:42:49 > 0:42:52They were so bad they actually made his feet bleed.
0:42:53 > 0:42:55For Matt and Robert,
0:42:55 > 0:42:58fake Vibrams are an insult to the years of hard work and investment
0:42:58 > 0:43:01that have gone into producing the real thing.
0:43:02 > 0:43:08I feel bad if people are not getting what they are looking for
0:43:08 > 0:43:11because somebody's just trying to make money out of it.
0:43:16 > 0:43:19That's all from Fake Britain. Goodbye.
0:43:47 > 0:43:50The stars are out for a glittering night of awards,
0:43:50 > 0:43:53celebrating the inspirational heroes
0:43:53 > 0:43:55who've dedicated their lives to helping others...
0:43:55 > 0:43:56All aboard!
0:43:56 > 0:43:59..and the National Lottery-funded projects making a difference.