Phone chargers sold on Amazon Haul, B&Q and eBay can electrocute and explode, Which? warns
The consumer champion bought 15 USB phone chargers from seven online marketplaces and tested them to determine whether they were safe and legal to sell in the UK.
Which? found nine chargers bought from Amazon (including Amazon Haul), AliExpress, B&Q Marketplace, Debenhams Marketplace and eBay were so badly manufactured that anyone using them was at risk of receiving an electric shock. Eight of the chargers also posed fire and explosion risks.
All fifteen chargers sold by online marketplace sellers were missing key information on the packaging, the charger itself or in the documentation provided. This by itself means that every one of these chargers cannot be sold legally in the UK.
Which? bought an ‘Apple’ USB-C 35W Power Adaptor charger for £11.99. The box was marked with the famous Apple logo, but testing from Which? researchers revealed that it was a cheap and dangerous fake.
Arcing sounds were picked up from the fake ‘Apple’ charger after 10 seconds of an electrical strength test. Arcing is when a current jumps between two parts of the electrical circuit, which could cause a fire, lead the product to explode or cause an electric shock.
Which? researchers opened the charger’s case and found a lump of modelling clay inside it, which they believe was used to give the charger a more weighty, robust and genuine feel.
Tellingly, there was a spelling mistake on the charger itself and both it and the documents provided were missing required information such as the UK importer’s postal address. One customer who bought the fake ‘Apple’ charger posted on the listing to say that it had overloaded and ruined their iPad and phone, both of which have stopped charging.
Two unbranded phone chargers were bought from eBay sellers for £2.10 and £2.80. Both posed risks of fire, explosion and electrocution. The distances between parts of the circuits were too small, which could lead to arcing. The plug pins were also too short. For both chargers the packaging, product markings or instructions were missing information that is required for them to be legally sold in the UK.
Which?’s investigation also extended to Amazon’s low-cost platform Amazon Haul, where the consumer champion bought and tested a USB-C charger for £6.99 that proved to be dangerous. The unbranded charger failed electrical safety tests and was found to be a shock and fire risk for anybody using it. The packaging, markings and instructions provided were all missing required information.
Two further unbranded chargers bought from Amazon for £2.99 and £3.99 passed electrical safety tests, but all four chargers bought from Amazon and Amazon Haul were missing key packaging, markings and documentation. None can be legally sold in the UK.
The 2-1 Super Fast Charger (£10.99) bought from a seller on B&Q Marketplace also failed safety tests and has the potential to explode, cause a fire or to give users an electric shock.
Parts of the circuitry were too close together and when Which? stress-tested its insulation and robustness, the charger immediately stopped working. It was also badly manufactured with two of the charging pins being too thick, which could damage a mains socket.
The Dual Port 35W charger (£9.99) from Debenhams marketplace was just as bad and failed all of Which?’s electrical safety tests. The inside was weighted down with modelling clay - just like the fake ‘Apple’ charger. The packaging, markings and documentation provided failed to provide the legally required information.
Two chargers bought from sellers on AliExpress for £1.30 and £5.69 could also be dangerous for anyone using them. Parts of the electrical circuitry were too close together on both, which could cause an explosion, fire or an electric shock. Both chargers also stopped working when Which? stress-tested them in a high voltage test. The plug face on one of these was too small to meet the requirements of the relevant standard (BS1363) and both chargers came with insufficient packaging, product markings and documentation.
Chargers bought from sellers on Temu and Shein passed Which?’s safety tests, but both were missing required markings on the product, including details of the UK importer. For this reason none of these four chargers can be sold legally in the UK.
Phone chargers are the latest in a long line of dangerous products from online marketplaces that Which? has exposed. The consumer champion first informed online marketplaces they were selling dangerous chargers in 2019. Which? is campaigning alongside a coalition of safety groups and responsible UK businesses for tough new laws to make online marketplaces responsible for ensuring the safety of products that they list on their sites.
The Product Regulation and Metrology Act, adopted in July 2025, enables the Secretary of State to impose product safety requirements on online marketplaces through secondary legislation, but these have been delayed and the government has only recently consulted on possible changes. The government urgently needs to use these powers to ensure that products such as these are prevented from reaching UK consumers.
Sue Davies, Which? Head of Consumer Protection Policy, said:
“Badly designed electricals like these can have life-altering - even fatal - consequences. Online marketplaces have known about the danger of knock off chargers for the better part of a decade, but consumers continue to be placed at risk.
“The government must urgently use the new powers it has under the Product Regulation and Metrology Act to update product safety legislation and impose a clear legal duty on online marketplaces for ensuring the safety of products sold through their third-party sellers, with tough enforcement for those that fall short.
“By making online marketplaces legally responsible for unsafe products, the government can set a world-leading standard for product safety in the digital age.”
-ENDS-
Notes to Editors
Methodology:
Which? bought 15 USB phone chargers from online marketplaces and tested them for electrical safety to determine whether they were safe to use and could be sold in the UK legally.
Results summary:
Nine out of the 15 phone chargers were found to be electrically unsafe.
All nine unsafe chargers had the potential to give users an electric shock and eight posed an explosion and fire risk, too.
Two were filled with modelling clay and one with a metal weight to make the lightweight chargers feel more substantial.
One ‘Apple’ charger was found to be counterfeit and dangerous.
A ‘Samsung’ charger was delivered without packaging or instructions and Which? believes it to be counterfeit.
All 15 chargers were missing required information on the product, the packaging or in the instructions.
None of the 15 chargers can be sold legally in the UK.
Which?’s electrical safety tests are outlined below:
Creepage & clearance distances – Which? checked that the minimum safe separation distances between parts of the circuit required by the standard are present in all of the products.
Electrical strength test – Which? tested whether the product can withstand the minimum test voltages required by the standard before flashover or breakdown occurs. Relevant standards are BS62368, BS60950 and BS60335-2-29.
Plugface and pins check - The products are checked against a BS1363 plug gauge which measures the pins and compares to the upper and lower required limits. The plug face is also measured to make sure it's wide enough to be safe.
Packaging, product markings and documentation – Which? checked that the legally required marks, warnings and information are present and correct on the packaging, the product and the documents provided with it.
Advice for consumers - how to shop safely for phone chargers:
Buy a recognised brand - when Which? tested well known brands of phone charger all of them passed Which?’s electrical safety tests and none posed a safety risk to anyone using them.
CE or UKCA mark - look for the CE mark or the UKCA mark. The markings indicate that the charger meets all the legal requirements needed to be sold in this country. CE and UKCA mean the same, but without one or other of them, the charger can’t be sold legally in the UK.
Look for the UK importer’s details - when chargers are made outside the UK, details of the company importing them should be on the packaging or the product itself. If you can’t find them, you might have a dodgy charger on your hands.
Be wary of very cheap big-brand chargers - they could be fake. The fake and dangerous ‘Apple’ charger Which? tested was bought for £6.99, a genuine ‘Apple’ charger will be around £20.
Which? has also tested fast chargers that do not pose a safety risk to users - for results visit which.co.uk/phonechargers
Further background information:
On Tuesday June 2nd Which? handed in a petition with more than 150,000 signatures to the Department of Business and Trade minister Kate Dearden calling for the government to regulate online marketplaces and fine them for breaches.
Which? First reported on the dangers of knock off phone chargers from online marketplaces back in 2019.
Right of replies:
An AliExpress spokesperson said: AliExpress takes product safety very seriously, and we have strict rules and policies in place to ensure a safe online shopping environment. We have removed both identified products: one was taken down via proactive monitoring early this May, the other was removed immediately upon your report; and same takedown actions were already made for any that are identical to these products as well. We will inform affected UK consumers of the risks and support refund requests. We have put mechanisms in place to maintain proactive monitoring and prevent similar non-compliant items from being listed. We remain dedicated to working with regulators to ensure marketplace safety.
An Amazon spokesperson said: Customer safety is a top priority at Amazon and we have partnered with Electrical Safety First to provide customers with easy-to-understand expert tips on charging devices safely. We require all products offered in our store to comply with applicable laws, regulations, Amazon policies, and we monitor for product safety concerns. We’ve removed the highlighted items. We proactively monitor our store for safety alerts and product recalls and remove relevant products and email customers who purchased them. If we discover a product was undetected by our automated checks, we address the issue immediately and refine our controls. If customers have concerns about an item they’ve purchased, we encourage them to contact our Customer Service directly so we can investigate and help resolve their issue.
A B&Q spokesperson said: We take the safety of products sold by sellers at B&Q Marketplace very seriously and proactively check to ensure no products subject to an OPSS recall are offered for sale.
A Debenhams spokesperson said: We take product safety and compliance extremely seriously. The product in question was listed by a third-party seller through our marketplace. As soon as we were made aware of the potential safety issue, we immediately removed this product from our website. We are contacting the small number of customers who purchased this product to inform them of the issue and to issue full refunds.While the product was sold by an independent third-party seller, we expect all marketplace partners to adhere to our listing policies and relevant safety standards, and we are working with them to understand how this occurred.
An eBay spokesperson said: We can confirm that all of the items listed in this investigation had already been removed by eBay's standard safety measures prior to Which? sharing them with us. We are also reviewing the accounts of the reported sellers for other similar items, before taking the appropriate action. Consumer safety is a top priority for eBay, and we take this issue very seriously. We work diligently to prevent and remove unsafe listings through seller compliance audits, block filter algorithms, AI-supported monitoring by in-house specialists, and close partnerships with regulators. These measures helped to prevent 21 million potentially unsafe listings from appearing on eBay in 2025.
A Shein spokesperson said: Shein takes product safety very seriously and is committed to offering safe and reliable products to customers. As soon as we were informed of the findings we immediately initiated our standard safety protocol and delisted this product while we investigated. While we note that while the device itself was found to be compliant with applicable safety standards, we require all sellers to ensure that products include the correct labelling, documentation and regulatory information required in the markets where they are sold. In this case, we are requiring the seller to review similar products and associated listings to ensure ongoing compliance across our platform. We are also continuing to screen for similar listings as part of our broader compliance processes.
A Temu spokesperson said: The seller provided a certified CE-LVD report and a UK Plug Test Report as part of our pre-listing compliance check, which is consistent with the product passing Which?'s safety tests. On receipt of Which?'s notice, we removed the listing pending a review of packaging, product markings and documentation against UK requirements. The listing will not be reinstated until it is fully compliant. As a precaution, we are also removing identical and substantially similar listings pending the same review.
About Which?
Which? is the UK’s consumer champion, empowering people to make confident choices and demand better. Through our research, investigations and product testing, we provide trusted insight and expert recommendations on the issues that matter most to consumers.
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