The U.S. government has taken down more than 1 million website domains it says were being used to sell counterfeit items online, according to Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
The federal immigration agency said Monday it worked with 26 countries on the yearlong effort, dubbed Operation in Our Sites.
A total of 1.21 million domains were shut down and 33,600 were “criminally seized” as a result of investigations between ICE, Europol, Interpol, and law enforcement from more than two dozen other countries, according to a news release.
The joint effort also axed 2.2 million links that led people on social media and third-party sites to the bogus domains.
The group went after illegitimate business sites that were selling car and electrical parts, as well as designer fashion and beauty items.
“An investigation based in Louisiana led to the seizure of five website domain names — including Chinaseatbelt.com; Airbagpart.com; Chinasafetybelt.com; Fareurope.com; and Far-europe.com — involved in the sale of fake automotive parts,” ICE noted.
Each of the domains violated copyrights by the actual companies.
The operation was overseen by ICE’s National Intellectual Property Rights Coordination Center under the agency’s Homeland Security Investigations arm. The center was created as a result of the Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act of 2015.
