US authorities said Monday they have shut down 150 websites offering counterfeit goods like sports jerseys and luxury handbags in an operation tied to the pre-Christmas shopping surge. The shutdowns, launched last week on the eve of the "Black Friday" post-Thanksgiving shopping surge, hit websites that were mostly backed by China-based counterfeiters, according to John Morton, director of the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), which led the operation.
ICE seized the domain names of the websites, posting a statement declaring the seizure on the website home pages. "In a day when many consumers are shopping on line, we have, working together, disrupted the sale of thousands and thousands of counterfeit goods," said Lanny Breuer, assistant attorney general of the Department of Justice. Most of the shuttered websites were offering jerseys and other items of US professional football, basketball, and hockey teams. The counterfeit jerseys from one, NFLjerseyssupply.org, sold football jerseys for $46 that on official sites go for up to $115. Other sites offered brand-name sunglasses, Louis Vuitton handbags, Ugg boots among other products.
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