Report an antitrust violation
The Antitrust Division promotes free and fair economic competition by enforcing and advising on antitrust laws and principles.
Information from the public is vital to our work. If you have information that a person, company, or organization has violated the antitrust laws, submit a report about your concern for our staff to review.
Your report could be our first alert to a violation and provide evidence to launch an investigation.
Start a report Or learn more about types of antitrust violations
What is an antitrust violation?
Many types of activities can violate antitrust laws. These include:
An unlawful monopoly exists when one firm has gotten or maintained market power for a product or service by intentionally acting to prevent competition.
Such monopolies can lower output, raise prices, and reduce innovation.
Price fixing occurs when competitors agree to raise, fix, or otherwise maintain the price for their products or services. For example:
- Set or adhere to price discounts
- Keep prices the same
- Get rid of or lower discounts
- Use the same formula to set prices
- Maintain a certain difference in price for different types, sizes, or quantities of products
- Adhere to a minimum fee or price schedule
- Fix credit terms
- Doesn’t advertise prices
Price fixing restricts price competition and harms consumers.
Wage fixing occurs when competitors agree to fix or otherwise maintain wages for employees in the same market.
Wage fixing deprives workers of better compensation and an open labor market.
Bid rigging occurs when parties in a competitive bidding process agree before they submit their bids to the buyer who will “win” the contract.
Often, the buyer is a federal, state, or local government. Bid rigging artificially raises prices.
Market division or allocation schemes occur when companies agree to divvy up a market for its products or services, such as by customer territory.
Such schemes limit consumer options for a good or service.
Unlawful employment agreements can take many forms:
- A no-poach agreement exists when competitors agree not to hire, recruit, or pursue each other's employees.
- A non-compete agreement is a covenant in an employment contract that limits a worker who leaves the employer from being able to join or start a competing firm.
- A non-disclosure agreement limits a worker’s ability to share or make use of trade secrets or other proprietary information.
- A non-solicit agreement exists when a company agrees with another company to refuse to solicit or hire each other’s employees.
- Training repayment agreements require a worker to repay the firm if they leave before a specified date.
Such agreements harm workers and innovation.
A company merger or acquisition can significantly limit competition in a market for a particular good or service, and/or harm workers.
What happens with information you share
Our Confidentiality Policy and Privacy Policy apply to all reports we receive.
Staff will review your report.
If you provided your contact information and we need more details, we will contact you. If we determine the information does not raise antitrust issues that warrant further review by the Antitrust Division, we will also contact you.
Division investigations are confidential, so we won’t let you know if we open an investigation based on your report.
Please note that the Antitrust Division is prohibited by law from giving legal advice to private individuals.
Criminal antitrust leniency program for corporations and individuals
Individuals or companies who (a) believe they may have been involved in criminal antitrust violations and (b) cooperate with the Antitrust Division can avoid criminal conviction, fines, and prison sentences if they meet the conditions of the Division’s Leniency Program. More information about the Division’s Leniency Program is available on the Leniency Program page.
Updated August 8, 2023