Research conducted by the U.K.’s Trading Standards agency, and undertaken by Illinois-based global safety specialists UL, has shown that 99% of the counterfeit chargers sold online have failed regulatory safety checks. Only 3 out of the 400 chargers purchased online from countries such as the U.S., China, and Australia passed; with the other 397 being deemed as unsafe and unacceptable.
The news comes after The Apple Post reported back in October that Apple ruled that 90% of the ‘genuine’ Apple cables and charges sold on Amazon were fake, with the Cupertino company filing a $2 million lawsuit against Mobile Star LLC, the main perpetrator behind the counterfeit goods. Leon Livermore, the chief executive of Chartered Trading Standards Institute, described the counterfeit chargers sold online as an “unknown entity”, urging shoppers to only buy electrical goods only from trusted suppliers.
It might cost a few pounds more, but counterfeit and second-hand goods are an unknown entity that could cost you your home or even your life, or the life of a loved-one,” he said.
Earlier this week following Amazon’s admission that the company is struggling to monitor the sale of counterfeit goods, Gillian Guy, chief executive of the U.K.’s Citizens Advice Bureau ask that shoppers should “Look out for tell-tale signs of counterfeiting such as mistakes in brand names or logos, and check plugs for safety marks – all genuine electrical items made in the EU should have a CE mark on them.”