Customs officials seize more than 400 fake Super Bowl rings headed to Illinois residence

Jordan Mendoza, USA TODAY
·2 min read
One of the fraudulent Super Bowl rings seized.
One of the fraudulent Super Bowl rings seized.

Border officials seized more than 400 fraudulent Super Bowl championship rings this month and said they were headed to an Illinois residence.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection said its officers working at an express operations hub in St. Louis seized a shipment of 422 Super Bowl rings with an image of the Lombardi Trophy, the trophy awarded to the Super Bowl winning team.

An import specialist examined the rings and determined they were not authentic and infringed on trademarks owned by NFL Properties. The rings, which arrived from China and were headed to a residence in Jerseyville, Illinois, would have been worth an estimated $300,000 if they were real, the agency said. Officers suspected the rings were going to be sold as fake merchandise to "take advantage of sports fans."

“Counterfeit jewelry continues to flood the e-commerce market, and these rings were focused on a select group of sports collectors and their fans,” LaFonda D. Sutton-Burke, director of border protection field operations in Chicago, said in a statement.

Package containing the fake Super Bowl rings.
Package containing the fake Super Bowl rings.

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Officials said the counterfeit rings are part of a trend of fraudulent jewelry being imported into the U.S. Last year, the agency said it seized more than 375,000 counterfeit pieces of jewelry, estimated to be worth more than $550 million if they had been real. In total, officials seized more than 24.7 million counterfeit products worth nearly $3 billion had they been authentic.

"Sports enthusiasts need to be mindful when purchasing memorabilia that it comes from a reputable seller, before investing their money," officials said.

The agency added U.S. consumers spend more than $100 billion each year on fake memorabilia, accounting for 20% of counterfeit goods illegally sold worldwide.

Follow Jordan Mendoza on Twitter: @jordan_mendoza5.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Customs officials seize 422 fake Super Bowl rings headed to Illinois

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