Feds Bust Fraudulent Websites as Cyber Monday Sales Skyrocket

Cyber Monday sales may have broken sales records Monday, but not all of the deals out there were legitimate.

Federal authorities shut down 132 domain names that sold counterfeit products, such as DVDs, jewelry and sports jerseys, according to State House News Service in Boston. The investigation, spearheaded by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Homeland Security Investigations unit, spanned six countries.

The sites had collected more than $175,000 in payments through PayPal before they being busted, according to the news report. Anyone visiting the sites now will get a banner notifying them of the shut down.

Online sales could top $1.5 billion, according to Market Watch. That's up 20 percent from the $1.25 billion in sales recorded in 2011.

The National Retail Federation estimated that 123 million Americans would shop online on Cyber Monday. CNET has a graphic showing the most popular online retailers, like Amazon, eBay, Zappos, Shopify and Shopzilla.

While most shoppers will surf to the heavy-hitters of online retail, some may find their way to deals on questionable websites.

At least two of the fraudulent sites involved were California-based, according to the CBS affiliate in Los Angeles. ICE shut down www.autoforms8m.com, which reportedly sold counterfeit Adobe software, and www.23isking.com, a Nike shoe knock-off retailer.

Holiday shopping overall has been more robust than 2011, according to a report in the LA Times. Through the first 23 days of November, sales increased 16 percent over 2011.

About 247 million Americans hit brick-and-mortar store sales and shopped online during the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, according to the National Retail Federation.

What online sales are you taking advantage of today? Tell us in comments!

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