Criminals are putting consumers at risk by selling fake £299 Dyson Supersonic hairdryers on Amazon.
The counterfeits are near-perfect copies of the must-have product – but may potentially be lethal.
Sales of genuine Dyson dryers shot up when TV reality star Kendall Jenner, 26, revealed she used one.
But crime gangs are now using Amazon and other marketplace websites to fool online shoppers.
Dyson has issued a warning to shoppers after hospital secretary Virginia Black, 33, was nearly burned by one of the fakes.
Her husband Steve, 35, who bought the full-price hairdryer on Amazon, said: “My wife was drying her hair and the attachment fell off on to her head.
“She could smell burning and unplugged it straight away. The end where the heat comes out had arranged for a courier to pick it up but they say it’s a counterfeit and extremely dangerous.”
Engineer Steve, from Stevenage, Herts, added: “I’m very concerned other people have got these ticking timebombs in their homes.
“When we contacted Amazon, they said it was sold by a third-party seller and it’s not their problem.”
Consumer charity Electrical Safety First has urged the Government to make online marketplaces legally responsible for stopping dangerous products from being sold. Most of the fakes originate from China. Last month seven crooks who ran a factory making fake Supersonic dryers were jailed or heavily fined in Shangdong province, eastern China.
A spokesman for Dyson said: “We’re sorry to hear that Mr and Mrs Black were duped by unscrupulous counterfeiters who sold them a dangerous product.
“We have a team dedicated to tracking down these manufacturers and holding them to account.
“Consumers should be alert to the danger and marketplaces like Amazon need to take greater responsibility for their sellers and what they sell.”
Amazon said: “The product in question has been removed, we’ve taken action against the seller and the customer has been refunded in full.
“We encourage customers with concerns to report them to us.”
