TRADING Standards bosses are warning Christmas shoppers to be on the lookout for fake goods in the run up to the festive season.

Officials fear that hundreds could be duped into buying pirated goods in the hope of getting a bargain, only to find themselves out of pocket in the long run.

It is estimated that more than £3billion is lost every year by the UK leisure software industry to software pirates.

Local and national jobs are also lost as a result of pirate operations.

Pirated goods are often mixed with obscene material. Proven links exist between many organised pirate organisations and dealers in drugs and pornography.

Sales of pirate software are often used by terrorist organisations to fund terrorism.

Consumers have no recourse under law for faulty pirated goods, which can damage hardware.

Chris Allen, head of trading standards with Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council said: "People need to be aware of what they are buying, especially at this time of year when they may be buying presents.

"Not only can they can cause damage and disappointment to people who buy them but also to the local economy by affecting genuine retailers."

The call came as the Crimestoppers charity launched a campaign encouraging members of the public to "shop" a counterfeiter by calling their anonymous hotline, 0800 555 111.

The campaign focuses on the message, Fake Gear: Real Problems, by highlighting the links between piracy and organised crime and the loss of jobs from legitimate industries.

Also supporting the campaign is the European Leisure Software Publishers Association (UK) Ltd which was founded in 1989 to protect the leisure software industry.

Membership includes almost all companies concerned with the publishing and distribution of interactive leisure software in the UK.

The European Leisure Software Publishers Association (ELSPA) has a team of investigators across the country who work closely with Trading Standards to track down games pirates.

They carry out undercover investigations at car boot sales and computer fairs as well as following up advertisements in the press and on the internet.

Commenting on ELSPA's support for the Crimestoppers campaign, ELSPA's Director General, Roger Bennett said: "The involvement of Crimestoppers in this anti-piracy campaign drives home the point to the general public that counterfeiting is a crime involving serious organised crime groups."

Maximum penalties under trademark legislation are £5000 fine and/or six months in prison in the Magistrates Court or unlimited fine and 10 years in prison in the Crown Court.

To avoid being ripped-off, ELSPA advises consumers to avoid pirate copies of games. Their advice is to:

Look at the packaging and avoid poor quality or photocopied printed labels.

Genuine PlayStation One games are made from black polycarbonate

Genuine PS2 games are blue on the back if a CD ROM version and silver on the back if a DVD version.

Holograms are also visible on the underside of the disc.

Genuine games are never released on recordable CDs. If in doubt, buy only from a recognised outlet, never from street traders or 'door-to-door' salesmen and be wary at car boot sales.

In the latest Lancashire County Council Trading Standards Officers activities, teams of officers are visiting Sunday markets and have seized suspected counterfeit goods including the latest titles in videos, computer games and music releases. Prominent among the titles were the new Harry Potter film on video and

DVDs, and various chart CDs including Robbie Williams, Blue, Steps and Russell Watson. One trader recently had goods with a street value of around £5,000 seized.