Fake Britain

Police and trading standards officers raid a house whose occupants are selling fake fashion. A complete, mobile, imitation vodka factory is discovered in a lorry just outside Scarborough - see how shops sell the booze. A huge consignment of fake washing detergent is tracked by investigators all the way from China to Cheshire, and the fakers end up in prison.

The programme also follows the work of investigators from the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency on a raid of a fake medicines dealer.

There is a look at how tourists to London are tricked by criminals offering them fake holiday accommodation, and the story of how a grandmother helped to bring down a multi-million-pound criminal empire selling fake golf equipment is revealed.

Dominic Littlewood investigates the murky world of the loan sharks and follows the work of trading standards' illegal money lending teams.

There's the story of one heartbroken mother whose son committed suicide as his loan shark debts mounted. How celebrity autographs are being faked and sold on at exorbitant prices. How UK Border Agency teams are stopping millions of pounds worth of fake goods coming into the country via Felixstowe docks, and the sophisticated tracking devices used by criminals on their illegal consignments. Plus the fake parking tickets racket uncovered by Wolverhampton trading standards officers.

Dominic Littlewood reveals how families are being targeted by conmen when their children are on gap year trips abroad. We follow investigators from a leading pharmaceutical company who are hot on the trail of fake medicine dealers.

Plus, the terrifying story of the fake and highly dangerous hair straighteners, and how deadly fake chainsaws were sold to unsuspecting members of the public. And the tragic story of how the offer of a job - which turned out to be fake - brought one young family to financial ruin. And we show the scale of the fake electricals industry in China by following the work of a UK investigator.

Birmingham's trading standards and West Midlands Police crack down on the crooks faking parking offences to fleece members of the public.

We follow the South West England scambusters team as they track down a consignment of fake fashion destined for the City of Bristol. We reveal the extraordinary story of the fake educational qualifications racket.

We show how a fake Lowry picture was sold to an unsuspecting buyer and how the seller finally ended in gaol. And UK Border Agency officers at Southampton docks inspect a suspect consignment and reveal fake Mexican beer - from China.

We follow a private investigator working with police and trading standards as he tracks down one of the largest hauls of fake gold and jewellery ever discovered in the UK. And we see the work of the London Assay Office as they analyse what the fake jewellery is really made of - with shocking results.

We see how the UK Border Agency is stopping international forgers using air cargo to get fake ID into the country and a fake holidaymaker is revealed with her 'crib sheet' of how to respond to immigration officials' questions. Plus, how they tracked down the fake footballer, an illegal immigrant who made a fortune by buying property using fake ID while he played football for local clubs.

We meet the woman who was told by her bank that a fake copy of her passport had been presented to them to withdraw a huge sum of money. We see how a London employment agency has had to install high-tech anti-forgery equipment to check on fake documents, as they are now presented with so many forgeries. We follow the work of the NHS counterfraud unit as it tackles 'hospital hoppers', fake patients who tie up valuable resources while pretending to be ill.

Police and trading standards officers raid a house where the occupants are selling fake fashion. A complete mobile fake vodka factory in a lorry is discovered just outside Scarborough. A huge consignment of fake Persil is tracked by investigators all the way from China to Cheshire and the fakers end up in prison.

We follow the work of investigators from the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency and see them raid a fake medicines dealer. We see how tourists to London are tricked by criminals offering them fake holiday accommodation. And we follow the incredible story of how 108 million eggs were fraudulently relabelled in Britain's biggest ever fake food scam.

We see how Customs and Excise uncover a huge fake vodka and tobacco factory in London and see how shops sell fake booze. And we reveal how a grandmother helped bring down a multi-million pound criminal empire selling fake golf equipment.

We investigate the murky world of the loansharks and reveal the extraordinary case of the 78-year-old grandmother peddling fake loans. We meet Jane Badger, who was arrested in her own home and accused of fraud, even though she was entirely innocent, because a fraudster had made fake withdrawals on her credit card.

We follow the story of the fake car brake pads being sold in Northern Ireland and see how they dramatically fail safety standards on the test track. We see a trading standards team as they go undercover, setting up a fake hen night to catch a limo company putting lives in danger.

And we follow the investigators targeting the fakers who are making money out of one of the UK's most successful industries - computer games.

Dominic Littlewood reveals the extraordinary story of the secret consignment of fake oil drilling parts tracked down by trading standards officers in Peterborough. He follows Customs and Excise officers on the trail of fake diesel - agricultural fuel that has had its red tell-tale dye removed - and the criminals who peddle it.

Also featured are the owners of so-called mini pigs who have seen the fake perky porkers grow to be a lot bigger than expected, and the victims of an incredible scam: they have come home to find someone else living in their house, as it has been rented out by a fake landlord.

Fake Britain reveals the extraordinary amount of fake electrical cable being found in the UK, and puts some of it to the test, with alarming results.

There's a look at how the trading standards and police teams in the Midlands are cracking down on the huge trade in fake and smuggled cigarettes, and how people are being conned into believing that works of art they bought as antiques are anything but - because they have been made recently in Chinese factories!

Plus, the extraordinary identity theft story of how a UK passport stolen on a stag weekend in Amsterdam put an innocent Brit in prison ten years later in Lisbon - for a crime committed in Germany.

We follow the UK Border Agency teams as they reveal illegal immigrants using fake documents to get work in restaurants in Hampshire. And we see them working with police and a local authority counter fraud team to arrest a fake benefits claimant.

We reveal the extraordinary story of how fake wine was sold in a leading supermarket - and find out what was really in the bottle. We meet the two sisters who were victims of the fake ballet grades - their teacher was forging the certificates of dozens of her pupils. We follow trading standards officers as they discover the shop near London's West End stuffed full of fake designer goods and see how they also tackle the street traders openly selling fakes from market stalls.

And we go out with a local authority blue badge enforcement unit as they confront the people faking their entitlement to use the badges issued to road users with disabilities.

We reveal how fraudsters are counterfeiting the Euro. And we show how innocent British holidaymakers are being arrested abroad for unwittingly having the fake currency - like Carl Redden from Birmingham who was sentenced to 10 months in a prison in Cyprus and found himself locked up with hardened criminals.

We reveal the distressing story of the fake pet cremations. Owners found the pets they had loved and thought had given dignified individual cremations to, were in fact dumped in fields. And the ashes of their pets, which they had treasured, turned out to be fake.

We meet the woman who helped expose the fake DNA paternity test - as the father of her daughter tried to con his way out of his responsibilities.

We reveal the distressing story of how Alfred Mason's daughter Lorna discovered that her father had lost his entire life savings of £800,000 after falling victim to conmen selling fake investments - and how she found he had ended up living in squalor.

We follow police and trading standards officers as they raid a suspected fake numberplates factory. We follow the work of the London Borough of Hillingdon's benefit fraud investigators as they search for fake claimants and discover a fraudster using fake ID.

And we follow the story of the young woman who was conned by the fake faith healer. He pretended to be a supportive advisor but was tracked down by local trading standards officers who discovered he charged huge fees and lived a lavish lifestyle at the expense of his victims. And we meet Raymond Kaye and his wife Paula from Hull and hear the story of how Ray's desperation to win the holiday of a lifetime to Canada for Paula, led to his addiction to a fake prizes scam. It cost him their savings and almost their marriage.

Fake Britain carries out the largest independent investigation ever undertaken in Britain of one-pound coins given out over the counter by the high street banks, revealing how customers are receiving a shockingly high number of fakes. The programme also follows the work of local police, the Serious Organised Crime Agency and the Royal Mint as they join forces to track down the one-pound coin counterfeiters.

There is also the story of Julie Smith and her daughter Paige from Oldham who were duped by a fake pedigree certificate into buying a very sick puppy.

Plus a vet who used a forged degree certificate went into business near Liverpool - with appalling results.

We follow the UK Border Agency teams as they uncover illegal workers using fake documents to work in restaurants and takeaways in Liverpool. We visit Newquay in Cornwall and show the increasing problem of fake IDs used by underage drinkers - and we see how a trading standards team shut down a company supplying the fake identification online.

We meet the Suffolk businessman who fell for the fake overseas inheritance scam - which ultimately cost him his home and his life savings. We follow the work of an undercover insurance investigator as he tracks down a woman believed to be faking an insurance claim. And we meet the mother and daughter who thought they were buying their dream horse.

We follow the UK Border Agency teams as they discover illegal immigrants using fake documents to get jobs in the capital. We meet the teaching assistant who believed her online romance was with an American soldier in Afghanistan - but it was a fake soldier and she was conned out of thousands of pounds.

We see immigration officers at Heathrow airport investigate a woman trying to enter the UK on a fake passport she had bought for thousands of dollars in Africa. We show some of the bizarre fake documents that travellers try and use to gain entry to the UK. We follow trading standards teams as they crack down on the burgeoning business of fake champagne and we reveal how people are faking their entitlement to disability blue badges so they can park for free and save thousands of pounds.