Intellectual Property Theft and Commercial Fraud
are not victimless crimes — criminals take advantage of people looking for a good deal and steal proprietary information from American businesses. These crimes impact Americans at the individual and national level. Fake goods sold at low prices harm our families and friends; dangerous and cheap goods flooding the market harm our economy and the country at large. Stolen data and proprietary information directly harm businesses and consumers, too. HSI is a key player in the U.S. government’s fight against intellectual property theft and actively investigates illicit imports and pirated content that violate rights holders’ copyrights and trademarks. HSI prioritizes its intellectual property investigations to address the most egregious criminal schemes that threaten U.S. economic and national security and public health and safety. Every year, people and businesses import trillions of dollars in goods into the United States. Unfortunately, some people and companies don’t follow U.S. laws.