More than 1,200 scam websites targeting Christmas shoppers were shut down today in an unprecedented online raid.

Experts at Scotland Yard's e-crime unit targeted hundreds of websites run by fraudsters in Asia hiding behind British domain names.

The websites offered discount designer goods including clothing and jewellery, but police said customers either received counterfeits or nothing at all.

A Metropolitan Police spokesman said 1,219 scam websites were closed by investigators working under the code name Operation Papworth.

He said the sites offered items including trendy Ugg boots and GHD hair straighteners as well as jewellery from Tiffany & Co and Links of London.

The spokesman said the operation was co-ordinated with a company called Nominet which registers .co.uk website addresses.

He added that no arrests have been made.

The scam websites are believed to have made millions of pounds for the gangs operating them.

Detective Superintendent Charlie McMurdie, head of the Police Central e-crime Unit (PCeU), said: “Fraudsters target the victim's desire to buy designer goods at reduced prices, particularly at this time of year.

"The risk begins when your desire to purchase blinds your judgment or leads you to illegal websites. If it looks too good to be true, it probably is."

Police said those duped by the scam could also be at risk of having their identities stolen or misused.

Lesley Cowley, chief executive of Nominet, said: "We received clear instructions from the PCeU to take down the .co.uk domain names, which have been under investigation for criminal activity.

"We worked closely with the police and our registrars to quickly carry out the instruction to shut down access to these sites."

Police intelligence revealed that the majority of the fraudulent sites were registered from Asia, despite their UK domain names.

This made it difficult for victims to complain about poor quality, counterfeited items or goods not received.

The PCeU is now working with Nominet and other leading domain name registrars to prevent the future fraudulent registration of sites using false or misleading details.

People needing advice can contact Consumer Direct on 08454 040506.

Online experts warned new dodgy websites offering cheap goods were likely to resurface within hours.

Keir McConomy, who runs price comparison website compare-ghd.com, said the sites could simply be moved to slightly different addresses.

He said about three out of five search results for some popular brand items return links to fraudulent websites.

Mr McConomy said: "It is incredibly difficult to stop these sites in their tracks. The Met has seized their websites, but these sites are experts at re-creating themselves.

"It is as simple as shifting a hyphen or changing the spelling of a word slightly, leaving thousands of possible combinations for them to reassign a site to.

"As a result, we can expect to see many of these 1,200 sites that have been shut down appear again within a few days."

Mr McConomy said the only way to tackle the programme long-term was to target the source or to force customers to use a different payment method like PayPal.

He added: "The police and Nominet should be working with the payment gateways, as well as shutting down the websites, to properly close these sites for good. Otherwise they'll continue to pop back up."

Shadow Home Office minister James Brokenshire welcomed the crackdown but said the overall approach needed to be better co-ordinated.

He said: "The police estimate that an online crime is committed every 10 seconds yet the Government's response has been pedestrian.

"We believe that greater co-ordination and emphasis on both prevention and enforcement is needed to stop more people becoming victims of computer crime."

Dozens of suspicious websites selling popular brand names are listed on consumer chat websites and other web forums.

A snapshot survey of the links disclosed a significant number had not been shut down in the operation today.