Latest news with #EmmaWarbey
Yahoo
7 days ago
- Yahoo
Tens of thousands of fake football shirts worth £5m seized ahead of new season
Police have seized more than 67,000 fake football kits ahead of the new season. As part of an operation involving the Police Intellectual Property Crime Unit (PIPCU), the Intellectual Property Office (IPO), Border Force and Trading Standards, a number of raids have taken place across the country since January 2025. The raids resulted in seven people being arrested - including one person from Greater Manchester. READ MORE: UK households urged to sprinkle chilli powder across gardens in August READ MORE: 'It was just banter... I have a husband': Care worker tells court she 'didn't want love bite' off boy If genuine, the seized merchandise would have been worth a massive £5.1 million, the City of London Police said. Officers from PIPCU arrested five people for the sale of counterfeit goods in Bolton, Nottingham, Shrewsbury, Burton-on-Trent and Leek in June and July 2025. All those arrested have since received conditional cautions, which order them to stop selling counterfeit goods and take down their online sales platforms, police said. Det Chf Insp Emma Warbey, from the PIPCU, said: "Criminals are continuing to bring counterfeit products to the market as the new football season approaches. "Some consumers believe they're buying genuine merchandise; some end up with a poor-quality product, and counterfeiting is thought to be the second largest source of criminal income worldwide, second only to illegal drugs. "An issue of this scale demands a coordinated response, and we'll continue to work with our law enforcement, government and industry partners to crack down on this illegal trade and those who drive it." On 26 June, West Yorkshire Trading Standards and the IPO seized around 2,300 fake football shirts during two search warrants in Leeds and Bradford. Two men, aged 37 and 44, were arrested on suspicion of selling counterfeit goods and money laundering offences. They have since been released under investigation. A further 2,793 items were seized by Border Force agents at East Midlands Airport during the UEFA Women's Euros. The IPO's Deputy Director of Intelligence and Law Enforcement, Kate Caffery said: "As fans rally behind their teams for the new Premier League season, criminal organisations are exploiting their passion by flooding the market with fake merchandise. "The manufacturing and distribution of counterfeit football kits is anything but a victimless crime – it channels money away from the game and directly into the pockets of serious crime. "Counterfeit trading destroys tens of thousands of jobs annually and has a strong link to other serious criminal activities – from drug trafficking to human trafficking and modern slavery. "By raising public awareness and helping supporters make informed choices, we can ensure that fans' loyalty truly benefits the sport they cherish and help combat this threat to our communities." Adam Chatfield, Assistant Border Force Director for Birmingham and East Midlands Airports added: "Border Force officers play a crucial role in protecting UK consumers and legitimate businesses by intercepting counterfeit goods before they reach the market. "Counterfeit goods are worse than just poor-quality products - they often fund serious organised crime and are manufactured without regard for safety standards or workers' rights. "By stopping these items at the border, we're not only protecting consumers from potentially dangerous products but also disrupting the criminal networks that profit from this illegal trade."
Scottish Sun
23-04-2025
- Scottish Sun
Police chief warns illegal Sky Sports streamers ‘if you carry on we will come and arrest you' amid rise in dodgy boxes
POLICE have warned Brits of the huge criminal gang operations behind illegal streaming sites and dodgy Fire Sticks. The number of people streaming Sky Sports and other premium TV via knock-off boxes has gone "through the roof". 2 Police have taken down a number of operations in recent years Credit: Cheshire police But those buying them maybe be unaware it's not a victimless crime. Crooks are using money gained from such operations for drugs, forced labour, people trafficking and other types of criminality. "We always follow the money and go for the bigger organised crime groups and the bigger organised crime networks," Emma Warbey, head of the Police Intellectual Property Crime Unit at the City of London Police, told the Financial Times. Efforts have largely focused on cease and desist letters to some lower-level sellers which have been "very effective". "We are basically saying, 'We know what you're doing, this is the law that you're breaking, and if you carry on, we will come and arrest you,'" she explained. But she admits tackling end users is more challenging. "We can't arrest everybody in the UK that's doing it," the detective chief inspector continues. "So we're trying to look at other tactics." Users also run the risk of falling victim to devastating fraud themselves. One former illegal streamer recently told The Sun how crooks instantly accessed his bank account shortly after signing up to one such service. Major Illegal Streaming Network Shut Down Across Europe The 46-year-old from the Northwest of England - who asked to remain anonymous - said mates had used the illegal site before and recommended it, so he assumed it would be safe. However, little after signing up with his bank details a number of unexpected transactions were attempted on his account totalling several thousand pounds. "It all seemed quite secure, so I didn't even think at the time," he said. "After that, the payment was taken but there were all sorts of transactions on my bank account for quite a large amount of money which were on various times and various dates for different amounts. "It's scary really, they attempted thousands." 2 Those watching illegal streams warned their bank accounts could be targeted by fraudsters Credit: Getty / The Sun
The Irish Sun
23-04-2025
- The Irish Sun
Police chief warns illegal Sky Sports streamers ‘if you carry on we will come and arrest you' amid rise in dodgy boxes
POLICE have warned Brits of the huge criminal gang operations behind illegal streaming sites and dodgy Fire Sticks. The number of people streaming Sky Sports and other premium TV via knock-off boxes has gone "through the roof". Advertisement 2 Police have taken down a number of operations in recent years Credit: Cheshire police But those buying them maybe be unaware it's not a victimless crime. Crooks are using money gained from such operations for drugs, forced labour, people trafficking and other types of criminality. "We always follow the money and go for the bigger organised crime groups and the bigger organised crime networks," Emma Warbey, head of the Police Intellectual Property Crime Unit at the City of London Police, told the Efforts have largely focused on cease and desist letters to some lower-level sellers which have been "very effective". Advertisement Read more on illegal streaming "We are basically saying, 'We know what you're doing, this is the law that you're breaking, and if you carry on, we will come and arrest you,'" she explained. But she admits tackling end users is more challenging. "We can't arrest everybody in the UK that's doing it," the detective chief inspector continues. "So we're trying to look at other tactics." Advertisement Most read in Tech Users also run the risk of falling victim to devastating fraud themselves. One former illegal streamer recently Major Illegal Streaming Network Shut Down Across Europe The 46-year-old from the Northwest of England - who asked to remain anonymous - said mates had used the illegal site before and recommended it, so he assumed it would be safe. However, little after signing up with his bank details a number of unexpected transactions were attempted on his account totalling several thousand pounds. Advertisement "It all seemed quite secure, so I didn't even think at the time," he said. "After that, the payment was taken but there were all sorts of transactions on my bank account for quite a large amount of money which were on various times and various dates for different amounts. "It's scary really, they attempted thousands." 2 Those watching illegal streams warned their bank accounts could be targeted by fraudsters Credit: Getty / The Sun Advertisement Warning over 'jailbroken' Fire Sticks Illegal streaming can be delivered by a number of devices by one of the most common are 'jailbroken' Fire Sticks, which means a third-party media server software has been installed on to it. The software most commonly used is called Kodi. It can grant users unrestricted access to new features and apps the normal version of the device wouldn't allow – but it is not legal to use in the UK. But it becomes illegal when a box is used to stream subscription channels for free. It is also illegal to buy or sell these modified devices which have become known as "fully-loaded" - a term that describes how the software has been altered to allow access to subscription-only channels. 'These devices are legal when used to watch legitimate, free to air, content,' the government said at the time. 'They become illegal once they are adapted to stream illicit content, for example TV programmes, films and subscription sports channels without paying the appropriate subscriptions.'
The Sun
23-04-2025
- The Sun
Police chief warns illegal Sky Sports streamers ‘if you carry on we will come and arrest you' amid rise in dodgy boxes
POLICE have warned Brits of the huge criminal gang operations behind illegal streaming sites and dodgy Fire Sticks. The number of people streaming Sky Sports and other premium TV via knock-off boxes has gone "through the roof". But those buying them maybe be unaware it's not a victimless crime. Crooks are using money gained from such operations for drugs, forced labour, people trafficking and other types of criminality. "We always follow the money and go for the bigger organised crime groups and the bigger organised crime networks," Emma Warbey, head of the Police Intellectual Property Crime Unit at the City of London Police, told the Financial Times. Efforts have largely focused on cease and desist letters to some lower-level sellers which have been "very effective". "We are basically saying, 'We know what you're doing, this is the law that you're breaking, and if you carry on, we will come and arrest you,'" she explained. But she admits tackling end users is more challenging. "We can't arrest everybody in the UK that's doing it," the detective chief inspector continues. "So we're trying to look at other tactics." Users also run the risk of falling victim to devastating fraud themselves. One former illegal streamer recently told The Sun how crooks instantly accessed his bank account shortly after signing up to one such service. Major Illegal Streaming Network Shut Down Across Europe The 46-year-old from the Northwest of England - who asked to remain anonymous - said mates had used the illegal site before and recommended it, so he assumed it would be safe. However, little after signing up with his bank details a number of unexpected transactions were attempted on his account totalling several thousand pounds. "It all seemed quite secure, so I didn't even think at the time," he said. "After that, the payment was taken but there were all sorts of transactions on my bank account for quite a large amount of money which were on various times and various dates for different amounts. "It's scary really, they attempted thousands." 2 Warning over 'jailbroken' Fire Sticks Illegal streaming can be delivered by a number of devices by one of the most common are 'jailbroken' Fire Sticks, which means a third-party media server software has been installed on to it. The software most commonly used is called Kodi. It can grant users unrestricted access to new features and apps the normal version of the device wouldn't allow – but it is not legal to use in the UK. But it becomes illegal when a box is used to stream subscription channels for free. It is also illegal to buy or sell these modified devices which have become known as "fully-loaded" - a term that describes how the software has been altered to allow access to subscription-only channels. 'These devices are legal when used to watch legitimate, free to air, content,' the government said at the time. 'They become illegal once they are adapted to stream illicit content, for example TV programmes, films and subscription sports channels without paying the appropriate subscriptions.'
