Warning Issued Over Extension Cords, Christmas Lights

Making cheap knockoffs isn't limited to designer fashion, as a New Jersey sweep of urban discount stores this month found. The sweep revealed that holiday lights, Christmas decorations and other electrical items had counterfeit Underwriters Laboratory labels on them.

The real labels, with their familiar "UL," are meant to assure consumers bought products that met certain standards. The phony labels mean those products may not be up to safety standards, according to the state's attorney general.