A mother has been killed, apparently electrocuted as she talked on her mobile phone while plugged into a faulty charger.

Authorities have released an appeal to consumers about knock off chargers and are investigating the distributor that supplied the woman with the charger.

Mrs Aldeguer had just become an Australian citizen and was about to start work at Gosford Hospital. She hoped her husband and two young children would join her in the country soon as they start a new life in Australia.

The charger she was using did not meet Australian safety regulations as it had inadequate shielding which enabled 240 volts to pass from the charger to her body.  An enquiry has stated that they believe that Mrs Aldeguer died instantly and her body was found by friends the next day.

Police later closed down a stall in Sydney after the stall was found guilty of selling the faulty charger to Mrs Aldeguer.

Police seized a large amount of stock, including phone chargers, power boards and travel adaptors, which were found not to meet Australian safety requirements.

NSW Fair Trading Commissioner Rod Stowe said the rip-off, cheap chargers seized by the commission were low quality plastic that could melt and did not have insulation on pins or approval marks.

The stall itself could face substantial fines in a region of $87,500 and two years’ imprisonment.

This is the only know fatality to date that seems to be connected to the devices, but Mr Stowe said the public needed to be informed immediately to avoid further deaths.

'It's a wake-up call to people who buy cheap electronic products without realising potential hazards,' said NSW Fair Trading Commissioner Rod Stowe. 'If the deal's too good to be true, it usually is and it can prove fatal.'

These types of accidents are going to increase in the future as consumers can buy these types of goods online and they would have no way to check if it met safety standards.

Police initially thought that Mrs Aldeguer had been killed by her laptop as she was using it at the same time. It is believed the voltage completed its circuit by travelling from the faulty charger into the phone, into her body, then through her headphones into her laptop and then through the computer charger back into the wall.

Consumers who have already bought non-approved USB-style chargers for phones or tablets are advised to bend the pins on the chargers and throw them away immediately.