Consumers Urged to Be Aware of Counterfeit Goods in Holiday Shopping Season

Edited by Austin

NEW YORK–As holiday shopping season is drawing near, two federal law enforcement agencies urge consumer to be aware of counterfeit goods.  In 2015, the number of seizures made nationally due to Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) violations increased 25 percent from the previous year, totaling more than 28,000 seizures with an estimated value of more than $1.3 billion.

Federal law enforcement agencies reminded consumers of counterfeit goods (credit: ICE)
Federal law enforcement agencies reminded consumers of counterfeit goods (credit: ICE)

This was announced by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) at a joint media event Tuesday in New York to highlight counterfeit goods and consumer awareness.

The trafficking of counterfeit goods coming across the U.S. border is part of a global, multibillion dollar crime linked to organized criminal groups and serious health hazards. According to the International Anti-Counterfeiting Coalition, businesses worldwide lose an estimated $600 to $700 billion annually due to counterfeiting.

Counterfeit goods pose threat to national security and economy (credit: ICE)
Counterfeit goods pose threat to national security and economy (credit: ICE)

While watches and handbags are considered the most counterfeited items, intellectual property thieves will counterfeit any product that can be sold or marketed.  Some of those trends include counterfeit drugs, medical equipment, aircraft and automobile parts, computer hardware, military components, and electrical safety devices.

While the sale of merchandise with IPR violations has traditionally been seen in store fronts, warehouses or on the street, criminal organizations have become savvy in setting up online stores to trick the public into believing they are purchasing legitimate goods on legitimate websites.  HSI teamed with industry and international law enforcement leading up to Black Friday and Cyber Monday last year and shut down more than 30,000 domain names that were illegally selling counterfeit merchandise online to unsuspecting consumers. HSI is supporting those operations again this year.

In 2015, tactical interagency collaboration with the National Intellectual Property Rights Coordination Center (IPR Center) resulted in 538 arrests, with 339 indictments, and 357 convictions.

Each year, more than 11 million maritime containers arrive at U.S. seaports. At U.S. land borders, another 10 million arrive by truck, and 3 million arrive by rail. An additional quarter billion more cargo, postal, and express consignment packages arrive through air travel.

Just in time for Black Friday, Cyber Monday and the rest of the holiday shopping season, ICE and CBP reminded consumers of goods with fake trademarks and how they can protect themselves.

 

 

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