Feds Seize 130+ Domain Names and Shut Down Websites on Cyber Monday

On the biggest online shopping day of the year with consumers estimated to have spent over $1.5 billion, federal officials shut down over 130 websites that were selling illegal counterfeit items on the Internet.

Project Cyber Monday 3 marks the third year in a row that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has shut down numerous websites selling counterfeit goods.

“Everything from Ergobaby carriers to New Era hats, Nike sneakers, Tiffany jewelry, Oakley sunglasses and NFL jerseys, just to name a few. Even counterfeit Adobe software was for sale,” ICE Director John Morton said during a conference call.

ICE’s National Intellectual Property Rights Coordination Center  and Homeland Security Investigations partnered with EUROPOL, the European Union’s law enforcement agency, to take down 101 websites that were hosted on U.S. internet servers and 31 websites hosted in Europe.

ICE obtained court orders to shut the websites down after investigators purchased items from the websites and confirmed that the items were fake.

“Counterfeit Hermes purses, Christian Louboutin shoes and various Nike apparel, all of it fake, all of it substandard,” Morton said about the quality of the knock-off items.

“When IP rights are violated, jobs are lost, businesses are stolen and ultimately consumers are cheated. Remember, counterfeiters care about making money and only about making money. They don’t pay health care. They don’t pay pensions. They don’t pay taxes. They don’t care about the people that work for them and they don’t, frankly, care about the consumers who purchase the products,” Morton said.

Counterfeit Airbags Present Serious Safety Risk

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials today warned consumers about counterfeit airbags made at overseas manufacturers and installed in cars throughout the U.S. 

The counterfeit airbags have been found in more than 75 different makes and models, both domestic and internationally-made cars, and could affect thousands of individuals.

Earlier this year ICE arrested and convicted a Chinese counterfeiter who was found with nine different brands of airbags. And just this year have confiscated more than 2,500 fake airbags.

Consumers are at risk if:

•   They have had their car airbag replaced in the last three years, at a repair shop not associated with a new car dealership;

•   Purchased a used car that may have had its original airbag replaced;

•   Own a car titled branded salvage, rebuilt or reconstructed;

•   Got a "too good to be true" deal for airbag replacement; or

•   Purchased their airbag from eBay, Craigslist or other non-certified outlet.

Because the faulty airbags are not the fault of car manufacturers or dealers, this is not a mandatory recall and consumers must pay out of pocket to replace the airbag.

"They look like the real thing and unfortunately consumers are not in a position to figure out if they have a fake or a real airbag and they certainly wouldn't be in a position to be able to replace their own airbag," David Strickland, NHTSA administrator said.

Officials urge anyone who has suspicions about their airbags to take their car to an expert for testing and replacement.