The World Cup coming to America has created a breeding ground for scams. Ticket scams, fraudulent streaming websites, and counterfeit items have been proliferating due to the massive influx of fans interested in the international soccer tournament.
Case in point: this week, federal agents in Houston, Texas, announced they had seized more than $6 million worth of counterfeit World Cup merchandise, including athletic wear, soccer balls and toys. They also confiscated sunglasses cases, counterfeit Apple products, and perfume for Intellectual Property Rights violations, including trademarks owned by FIFA.
“CBP routinely utilizes intelligence gathering and analysis of past trends before major events such as the Super Bowl and World Cup,” U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) said in a press release announcing the seizures. “This enforcement action focused on recipients who accept shipments of goods that violate intellectual property rights of companies owning trademarks and copyrights associated with the FIFA World Cup 2026 and related merchandise. Similar operations across the country have resulted in the seizure of thousands of items infringing on intellectual property rights.”
CBP officers from the Area Port of Houston/Galveston Trade Enforcement Team discovered and seized the counterfeit items. The majority of the shipments came from China and were intended for both domestic and foreign destinations.
Authorities seized thousands of fake FIFA and World Cup items
In the seizure, CBP agents confiscated approximately 12,000 Adidas soccer jerseys, 4,500 Adidas FIFA soccer balls, around 4,400 pairs of athletic shoes, 69 FIFA packages containing more than 2,200 fake Apple watches and earbuds bearing the FIFA name, as well as a variety of toys and perfumes.
“CBP takes very seriously our role in protecting American consumers from low quality and potentially dangerous counterfeit items,” said CBP Area Port Director Thomas Mahn. “With the extraordinary growth in e-commerce, consumers should always be mindful of where they are buying their products. Unfortunately, these criminal networks are very deceptive in scamming sports fans and harming American consumers and businesses. CBP works tirelessly every day to protect the public, our local economy, and those who play by the rules.”