This article is more than 1 year old
Cops capture counterfeit consoles
First discovery of fake DS Lites for sale in UK
Police have raided the home of a couple suspected of being the first people to sell fake games consoles in the UK.
Described as a "team" in an Entertainment and Leisure Software Publishers Association (Elspa) report, the couple’s Kent home contained 40 counterfeit Nintendo DS handheld consoles, the organisation alleges. Each was packaged with a “potentially dangerous” power unit and a game copying device.
Police say they also found 150 counterfeit games for the DS and GameBoy Advance, in addition to two laptops and a desktop PC.
The raid was the result of Bromley Trading Standards’ test purchase of illegally copied DS games and counterfeit consoles through eBay earlier this year.
A stack of eBay invoices - some dating back to 2007 - for counterfeit DS consoles were also discovered at the couple’s home, Elspa claimed. It’s thought sales netted the pair over £50,000 ($69000/€53000) in December 2008 alone. ®
Biting the hand that feeds IT
