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Play Counterfeit Catchers

Spot the fakes! Learn to identify safe and unsafe electronics.

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You’ll need

  • Scissors
Gadget cards
PDF – 60.7KB
Download Gadget cards

Before you begin 

  • Use the safety checklist to help you plan and risk assess your activity. There's also more guidance to help you carry out your risk assessment, including examples. 
  • Make sure all young people and adults involved in the activity know how to take part safely. 
  • Make sure you’ll have enough adult helpers. You may need some parents and carers to help. 

Planning and setting up this activity

  • Print enough Gadget cards for each group, ideally one full set per group.
  • Familiarise yourself with the cards so you can confidently explain what to look for. 
  • For more information on keeping children safe around electricity, you can read the Electrical Safety First advice page.

When shopping for electrical products, it can be tempting to go for a bargain. But some products may be:

  • Counterfeit copies of well-known brands (look-a-like devices)
  • Poorly made and low quality
  • Missing essential safety information or features

Even if a knock-off product looks the same as the real one, it could be dangerous. It might overheat, break easily, or cause electric shocks or fires.

Checking for safety marks, instructions, and quality, can help you stay safe and avoid problems at home.

Things young people could do to help prevent electrical hazards:

  • Use official chargers and appliances – avoid cheap or counterfeit chargers that can overheat or cause electric shock.
  • Do not use devices if cables are damaged – frayed wires, exposed wiring, or damaged plugs can cause sparks or electric shock. 
  • Avoid overloading sockets – don’t plug too many devices into one socket or extension lead. 
  • Keep devices away from water – never use electrical items near sinks, baths, or puddles. 
  • Keep devices away from flammable materials – paper, curtains, clothes, or rugs can catch fire if too close to heat sources. 
  • Turn off appliances when leaving the room or house, and unplug devices that are not in use. This reduces fire risk, prevents overheating and saves energy. 
  • Store electrical items safely – don’t let cords get pinched under doors or furniture. 
  • Keep electrical outlets dust-free by locating and positioning extension leads appropriately – dust can build up and become a fire risk. 
  • Do not use damaged or wet appliances – never use a toaster or hair dryer with water nearby. 
  • Follow manufacturer instructions – using devices incorrectly can create hazards. 
  • Report hazards to an adult – frayed wires, sparks, or strange smells should never be ignored. 

 

Running this activity

  1. Gather everyone together and ask what kinds of electronic items they use at home or school, such as chargers, headphones, toys, torches, or games. 
  2. Ask the group:
    • Where do they usually get these items from? Do they buy them in shops, online, or receive them as gifts?
    • Do they ever look at the gadget itself or its packaging before using it?
    • What sorts of things do they check for? For example, damage to wires, safety marks, instructions or brand names.
  3. Explain that electrical items need to meet conformity standards to keep people safe. These are often seen as the CE or UKCA marks on products, which mean that the manufacturer has declared that the product meets all the relevant safety requirements. 
  4. Ask the group whether they think they could spot an unsafe or suspicious gadget just by looking at it, and why a fake or badly made product might be dangerous. 
  5. Talk about things such as:
    • Missing conformity marks, such as CE and UKCA
    • Missing or incorrect safety instructions or warnings
    • Spelling mistakes or manufacturing errors
  6. Explain that badly-made or fake items that do not meet conformity standards are more likely to overheat, break, or even cause electric shocks or fires. 
  7. Split everyone into small groups and give each group a pack of gadget cards.
  8. Ask them to read each card and sort them into two piles: ‘safe’ and ‘suspicious’. Encourage them to discuss the clues they spot.
  9. Once everyone has finished, go through all the answers and ask why they chose what they did. Were any cards more difficult to sort than others? 
  10. Ask the group to list all the things they noticed as being suspicious or unsafe, and discuss why these might be a problem or could lead to a fire. 
  11. Ask them to think about anything else that might cause a fire, such as how the device is used. You can use examples such as chargers running under rugs or charging a phone under a pillow. 
  12. Emphasise that fires can happen with any electrical device, even ones that are made correctly, if they are not treated with care.
  13. As a group, talk about how to stay safe around electrical items and ask them what they should do if something goes wrong, such as a device overheating, sparking, or breaking. Encourage answers like unplug it safely, keep it away from water, tell a trusted adult, and never touch broken plugs or wires. 

Reflection

This activity was all about learning how to spot real and fake electrical products and understanding why checking for safety is so important. You had to read different information carefully, look for clues, and decide which items were real and which might be fake.

Here are some reflection questions you can use:

  • How did you find the activity? Was it easy or tricky to tell the difference?
  • How did you feel when you spotted something that didn’t look right?
  • Why do you think it’s important to check your own electronics at home or before buying something new?

Safety

All activities must be safely managed. You must complete a thorough risk assessment and take appropriate steps to reduce risk. Use the safety checklist to help you plan and risk assess your activity. Always get approval for the activity, and have suitable supervision and an InTouch process.

You must run your activities in line with the Safeguarding Code of Conduct for Adults (Yellow Card) and report any concerns to the UK HQ Safeguarding Team.

Scissors

Supervise young people appropriately when they’re using scissors. Store all sharp objects securely, out of the reach of young people.

  • To make this activity easier, you could do this activity as a whole group activity.  
  • To make this activity harder, you could include more subtle suspicious products with minor spelling errors, slightly incorrect conformity marks, or misleading specifications.

The activity can be adapted to suit different groups and abilities. You could provide extra support for young people who need it, print the cards in colour to make them easier to read, or have one person in each group read the card aloud while others discuss and decide. Groups can also work at their own pace, and leaders can offer hints if they get stuck.

All Scout activities should be inclusive and accessible.

Beavers Safety Activity Badge
Scouts Fire Safety Activity Badge

After learning about components and electrical safety, take a closer look around your meeting place, classroom, or home to spot potential hazards. You could use our activity Ignition Inspection.

See if anyone knows an electronics expert who could visit one week, free of charge. An electrical engineer or a local electronics retailer will have spark-tacular knowledge of these components. Ask around your group – you might be surprised how many “wiring wizards” you can find.

Young people could create or build their own mock products, including ‘real’ and ‘suspicious’ ones, and challenge others to recognise which are which.