In an effort to crackdown on the
online counterfeiting industry, the Department of Justice and Homeland
Security seized and shut down 82 website domains selling counterfeit goods and
music on Cyber Monday - one of the biggest and busiest online shopping days of
the year. Counterfeiters look to draw
consumers to their fake websites and counterfeit scams by providing fake goods
at a discount. Most of the goods the websites sold included golf equipment,
clothing, fashion accessories, and illegal copies of copyrighted DVDs for music
and software. The Feds wanted the crackdown to coincide with Cyber Monday to
put a damper in the counterfeit trade at the start of the holiday shopping
season.
"We are dedicated to protecting
the jobs, the income and the tax revenue that disappear when counterfeit goods
are trafficked," the Dept. of Homeland Security told Industry
Week.
How did the Feds determine the goods
were counterfeit? They purchased them from the websites (This includes
burberryoutletshop.com, cheapscarfshop.com, dvdcollectionsale.com,
handbagcom.com, mydreamwatches.com, rapgodfathers.com, sunglasses-mall.com,
torrent-finder.com and usaoutlets.net to name a few), and determined the goods
they sold were counterfeit. Apparently there were loads of misspelled
“designer” labels and cheap material used to make the fake products.
The
seized websites now show this image:
So what do these criminals face for
selling counterfeits online? As seen above, copyright infringement is a federal
crime which warrants a penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
Trafficking in counterfeit goods on the other hand carries a 10-year sentence
and a two million dollar fine.
The best way you can help is to report a website selling
counterfeit goods to us at www.fakesareneverinfashion.com.