The Federal Government is reminding people they risk fines of up to $110,000 if found trying to bring illegal handheld lasers into the country.

It follows an alarming increase in the number of laser pointers seized in the past six months.

Nearly 6,000 lasers were seized by customs and border protection officers, compared to just over 6,500 in the entire previous financial year.

The pointers are a device that use a highly focussed beam of light and are a professional tool in a range of industries but ones that emit more than one milliwatt are prohibited in Australia without a permit.

Home Affairs Minister Brendan O'Connor says in the wrong hands they can be a dangerous weapon.

"Members of the public should also be warned that some retailers selling handheld laser pointers on the internet advertise them as being under 1 milliwatt threshold when they are in fact many times over that limit and therefore are illegal to bring into this country without a permit," he said.

"If someone operating machinery a car or plane for example experiences temporary blindness or disorientation, this can have disastrous effects."