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Beware Of Counterfeit Goods This Holiday Season

DETROIT (WWJ) - In the rush to find the perfect gift for the family or friends you want to safeguard against finding the most dangerous gift as well.

How do you know if what you're buying this holiday season is the real deal and not a seasonal fake?

To avoid getting ripped off by counterfeiters this holiday season shop main-stream stores, reputable websites and don't buy items from street sellers or seasonal store-fronts selling high-end products for low prices.

Chief Customs and Border Protection officer Ken Hammond says it could be a costly mistake.

"If you plug in a charger that doesn't conform to your laboratory standards it can cause fires," says Hammond. "Or makeup that can pose a health hazard to the consumer."

"You've got carcinogens and makeup and things that are just not made properly -- so they could catch fire -- they could damage the health of the everyday citizen," adds Marty Raybon with Border Security in Detroit.

Consumer Reports says many consumers know to look for the UL label, the safety seal that the independent Underwriters Laboratories puts on more than 22 billion products annually, but fraudsters create knockoff labels for appliances and electronics, particularly low-cost items such as power strips and extension cords as well as mobile-phone chargers and batteries, says UL's consumer safety director, John Drengenberg.

It's a costly problem nationwide - there were 23,000 counterfeit times seized -- valuing more than a billion dollars and in Michigan and 11,000 seized with a value of $27 million in 2014.

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