As the 2022 World Series presented by Capital One gets underway this week, fans are heading to Houston and Philadelphia to support their teams and purchase officially licensed gear and memorabilia. With high demand for merchandise during the Series, the National Intellectual Property Rights Coordination Center (IPR Center), Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), join MLB in cautioning fans to be on the lookout for counterfeiters attempting to sell unauthorized, knockoff products and tickets.
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Since 2015, HSI has worked with UW-CEFS to obtain samples of seized ivory for research and to determine the origins of the poached ivory while establishing linkages to past seizures, post analysis, from Africa and Asia, which further aids HSI’s ability to link multiple ivory seizures to their traffickers. HSI attachés in Singapore, Angola, Cote D’ Ivoire, Thailand, Uganda, Kenya, Mozambique, and Tanzania, have participated in joint ivory DNA sampling operations with UW and host country officials.
HSI and UW-CEFS have most recently expanded their analytical efforts to include other forms of environmental contraband, such as pangolin scales, lion bone, rhino horn and illegally harvested timber, which are increasingly commingled with ivory shipments.
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Large sporting events are prime targets for bad actors who are extremely savvy and often set up fake websites or e-commerce marketplaces with the sole intent of scamming sports fans.
Here are a few tips for sports fans to keep in mind when making purchases to avoid being victimized:
- Shop only at trustworthy retail locations, such as the official team stores, rather than buying items from street vendors, flea markets, online auctions or other questionable sources.
- When purchasing merchandise online, be aware that criminals often use legit product photos on their websites despite selling fraudulent products. Consumers are advised not to buy expensive items from third party websites.
- Only buy event tickets and/or collectibles from trustworthy sources.
- If the price seems too good to be true, it probably is. While some counterfeiters may attract fans with a low-price tag or 2-for-1 deal, just as many try to legitimize their merchandise with a higher price point.
- Look out for ripped tags, poor quality, sloppy stitching, and irregular markings on apparel.
- Check statements – keep a record of purchases and copies of confirmation pages to compare against bank statements. If there is a discrepancy, report it immediately.
To avoid being victimized by counterfeiters, HSI and the NBA encourages fans to:
- Shop at NBA-authorized retail locations, such as the Chase Center, TD Garden, Dick’s Sporting Goods, Lids, and NBAStore.com, rather than street vendors, flea markets or other questionable sources.
- Look for the official NBA hologram sticker or holographic hangtag and a sewn-in or screen-printed label identifying the name of the NBA licensee (e.g., Nike, Fanatics, New Era, Mitchell & Ness).
- Check for ripped tags, irregular markings, or misspellings on apparel.
- Beware of vendors offering counterfeit paper tickets for sale. Only digital tickets will be issued to the 2022 NBA Finals in Boston and San Francisco, and tickets should be purchased via the NBA Events App and NBAEvents.com.
Throughout this year’s NBA Finals, the IPR Center is joining the NBA in working closely with federal, state, and local law enforcement partners who will be enforcing laws prohibiting the sale of counterfeit NBA merchandise.
Signing marks effort to share information, conduct outreach and education, and collaborate on enforcement priorities, new initiatives
Businesses conspired with Chinese billionaire to defraud investors by inflating value of China-based company via sham sales of aluminum in the US
Special agents from HSI teamed with industry, CBP, Los Angeles metropolitan area police officers, and other public-private sector partners to identify online marketplaces, flea markets, retail outlets, pop-up shops and street vendors selling counterfeit goods during the weeks leading up to Super Bowl LVI (56). They seized items such as fake jerseys, hats, rings, t-shirts, jackets, tickets, souvenirs, and thousands of other sports related memorabilia prepared to be marketed as legitimate, authentic items.
Special agents from HSI teamed with industry, CBP, Los Angeles metropolitan area police officers, and other public-private sector partners to identify online marketplaces, flea markets, retail outlets, pop-up shops and street vendors selling counterfeit goods during the weeks leading up to Super Bowl LVI (56). They seized items such as fake jerseys, hats, rings, t-shirts, jackets, tickets, souvenirs, and thousands of other sports related memorabilia prepared to be marketed as legitimate, authentic items.
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The IPR Center, in conjunction with Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), leveraged their vast authorities and international law enforcement partnerships to intercept and dismantle this criminal organization’s cyber piracy network and arrest those allegedly responsible. With these actions, the servers that were the pipeline for wholesale theft of intellectual property are now out of service.
Special agents at the forefront of search for human trafficking victims and fake merchandise
Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) is working with local, state, and federal law enforcement partners to provide essential public safety measures in and around the Los Angeles area. Measures include, but are not limited to, investigating human trafficking and intellectual property rights violations. The goal is to help address criminal threats the public, the National Football League, and the city of Inglewood may face leading up to and throughout Super Bowl LVI week, between Feb. 6-13.
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A Chinese appliance manufacturer and two of its subsidiaries have agreed to resolve criminal charges for failing to notify the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) that millions of dehumidifiers they sold to U.S. consumers were defective and could catch fire.
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Customs and Border Protection (CBP) warns consumers to be extra diligent while shopping online for children’s toys after Baltimore CBP officers seized a shipment of toys recently that were coated in unsafe levels of lead, cadmium and barium. CBP officers and a Consumer Products Safety Commission (CPSC) compliance investigator initially inspected the toys on July 16. The shipment of seven boxes arrived from China and included 295 packages of Lagori 7 Stones, a popular children’s game in India where children throw a ball at seven stacked square “stones.” CBP detained the shipment on August 24 and submitted nine samples to the CPSC lab for analysis.
Shipments with a voluminous amount of counterfeit consumer goods are usually transported in maritime cargo, so it was a bit surprising when Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers encountered two women who arrived at Washington Dulles International Airport recently from Qatar with 806 counterfeit items packed into 21 checked suitcases. The 806 items, which included fake designer brand jewelry, watches, clothes, shoes, sunglasses and handbags, under the brand names Christian Dior, Dolce & Gabbana, Fendi, Gucci, Hermes, Prada, and Versace, among others, would have had a combined manufacturer’s suggested retail price (MSRP) of $1,065,779, if authentic.
A Chinese national who participated in a multimillion-dollar scheme to manufacture, ship and market counterfeit laptop computer batteries and other electronics made in China was sentenced today to 60 months in federal prison.
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One of the most common counterfeited items that is seized by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers are watches. On Friday, September 10, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers assigned to the Port of Louisville seized 32 separate shipments containing counterfeit designer watches worth $57.84 million.
In a joint effort, Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) on Aug. 6, seized nearly $10.5 million in counterfeit apparel. HSI Nogales Task Force officers seized 6,628 pieces of attire, with an MSRP value of $10,483,082. In April, the Nogales Trade Enforcement Coordination Center initiated an operation targeting trade exports from China, Panama and Vietnam. Three months later, an in-bond shipment from China was referred for inspection at the Mariposa Port of Entry in Nogales, Arizona. The inspection resulted in the discovery of apparel bearing protected trademarks from Chanel, Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Burberry, Dior and Disney. Many of the products appeared to be poor quality with inconsistencies and stitching irregularities, so the merchandise was detained pending authentication and valuation from the trademark holders.
Special agents with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) assisted their law enforcement partners execute a state warrant that resulted in the seizure of more than $13 million in counterfeit designer goods.
Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Dallas special agents seized $1.3 million in counterfeit goods April 2, during the First Monday Trade Days market in Canton, Texas. Over 1,000 items were confiscated, including several boxes of luxury designer goods such as high-end purses, caps, shoes and sunglasses.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) New Orleans seized 51,000 counterfeit items valued at more than $16.7 million during a holiday-related intellectual property rights surge operation. The HSI-led initiative, dubbed Operation Safety Claus, was supported by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), U.S. Food and Drug Administration, and the Louisiana Bureau of Investigation, with support from the U.S. Attorney Eastern District of Louisiana. The coordinated federal law enforcement operation focused on interrupting counterfeit efforts in the New Orleans metro area during the holiday shopping season.
Zoulin Cai, a.k.a. “Allen Cai,” 28, of La Puente, was arrested charges that he participated in a $23.8 million scheme to manufacture and ship counterfeit laptop computer batteries and other electronics from China to the United States, where the bogus batteries were sold to unsuspecting buyers in online marketplaces.
A San Gabriel Valley man was arrested today on federal criminal charges that he participated in a $23.8 million scheme to manufacture and ship counterfeit laptop computer batteries and other electronics from China to the United States, where the bogus batteries were sold to unsuspecting buyers in online marketplaces.
More than 1 million copyright-infringing domain names of commercial websites engaged in the illegal sale and distribution of counterfeit goods and copyrighted works are now in custody of the federal government, thanks to the combined efforts of law enforcement agencies across the world. Federal agencies, as part of the National Intellectual Property Rights Center (IPR Center), seized the websites during the year leading up to Cyber Monday, Dec. 2, 2019.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) New Orleans announced the results of a month-long Intellectual Property Rights surge operation Nov. 13 that overlapped the Halloween and holiday shopping seasons resulting the seizure of more than 33,000 counterfeit items valued at more than $8 million.
Quan JIANG, 30, a Chinese national and former engineering student at Linn Benton Community College in Albany, Oregon, was sentenced to 37 months in federal prison and three years’ supervised release for trafficking fake and altered Apple iPhones.
On May 28, 2019, David Nichols from Marysville, Ohio, convicted of conspiracy to traffic in counterfeit airbags, was sentenced to serve one year in prison and ordered to pay $75,846 in restitution.
Four companies and three individuals have agreed to plead guilty to federal criminal charges related to the illegal importation and sale of $11 million worth of pharmaceutical-grade erectile dysfunction drugs that were falsely marketed as herbal remedies for men. The investigation into three federal cases was conducted jointly by ICE HSI, the Food and Drug Administration’s Office of Criminal Investigations and IRS Criminal Investigations.