SMEs that are looking to cut costs have been warned that counterfeit goods are more trouble than they are worth.
Ruth Orchard, director general of the Anti-Counterfeiting Group, explained that while fake goods are cheaper than the genuine item they do not last as long and can also present a health and safety problem.
She said: "Auto parts are actually for sale. Fake auto parts of various kinds: headlamps, airbags - there's safety aspects of that, because they're not supposed to be put in the post, because they can explode."
Ms Orchard added that the primary aim of her group is to increase consumer awareness of the problems surrounding counterfeit goods because if people stop buying such products, then criminals will stop producing them.
Last week a spokesperson for the British Retail Consortium said that counterfeiting is hitting British businesses because if such products were not available people would buy an equivalent, legal product.
