Officers find thousands of fake Labubus worth millions

Thousands of fake Labubus - like these - have been seized coming into the UK

Nine out of ten (90%) fake toys caught coming into the UK this year were fake Labubu dolls, according to the government.

Officials say that £3.5 million pounds worth of toys were seized in total.

Nearly three quarters of them also failed safety tests - with some found to contain harmful chemicals or parts that could easily come off and be swallowed.

Fake toys are usually cheaper copies of real toys, which can be dangerous if they have not been through proper safety checks, and could cause injury or harm to the person using them.

Real versions of the toys can be super-expensive

Real Labubu toys are a furry monster dolls created by Hong Kong-born artist Kasing Lung, which have become popular around the globe.

Rare versions of original Labubus can sell for a lot of money.

But of the 259,000 fake toys caught in 2025, around 236,000 were fake Labubus.

According to the Intellectual Property Office (IPO), the official UK government body which looks after trademarks and copyright, nearly half of people who purchased fake toys reported having problems with them.

Issues range from toys breaking almost instantly, unsafe labelling and even bad smells coming from fake toys.

The IPO has launched a new campaign called Fake Toys, Real Harms, aiming to raise awareness of the dangers of buying fakes.