Some of the most famous names in the world of fashion, including Louis Vuitton, Chanel, Prada, Gucci, Bulgari, Rolex and Cartier, are losing an estimated Y500bn ($4.3bn) a year in Japan from the sale of fake designer goods over the internet.

More than half the luxury-branded goods sold over the internet in Japan are fakes. This was the worst level of abuse in Asia, said Laurent Dubois, chairman of the Japanese arm of the Union des Fabricants, a global association set up to fight counterfeiting.