Customs and Border Protection officials say in the past six months, 350 shipments of counterfeit goods valued at over $1 million dollars were seized in the Rochester area.
Acting Director at the Buffalo Office, Rose Hilmey, says the seized shipments included products like fake sports jerseys, sunglasses, gaming systems, even car air bags.
"Products that infringe on US trademarks, copyrights and patents threaten the health and safety of American consumers our economy, and our national security," she said.
Hilmey says CBP works in conjunction with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Homeland Security Investigations with an aggressive intellectual property rights enforcement program.
HSI Special Agent James Spero says intellectual property theft is not a victimless crime.
"The victims are American businesses, and the US consumer. When intellectual property rights are violated, American jobs are lost business profits are stolen, and ultimately, the US consumer is cheated," he said.
Spero says as criminal groups and their illegitimate websites become more sophisticated, it becomes more important that the consumer become the first line of offense against these scams.
CBP encourages people to submit an "e-allegation" at cbp.gov if they suspect counterfeit merchandise is being illegally imported into the U.S.
HSI's Spero says people can also report suspected counterfeit activity to the national intellectual property rights center at iprcenter.gov.
Here's Spero talking about how consumers can help in the fight against intellectual property theft: