IPR Center Consumer Shopping Guide Timeline

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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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 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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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.

Signing marks effort to share information, conduct outreach and education, and collaborate on enforcement priorities, new initiatives

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.

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.

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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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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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.