Signs of Possible Antitrust Violations

Many types of suspicious activity can indicate possible antitrust violations. However, an actual determination cannot be made without trained investigators and lawyers exploring a matter in depth. For this reason, anyone who has information about possible violations, or who knows of or suspects such activity, should contact us. We will determine whether or not to investigate further.

Antitrust violations involving bid rigging, customer allocation and price fixing are more likely when only a few sellers conspire together. The more sellers that are involved, the harder it becomes to reach an agreement between them. Guaranteeing compliance with an agreement is also more difficult in a larger group.

However narrow or broad the involvement may be, look for these signs of possible violations:

• - Evidence that two or more competitive vendors have an agreement to manipulate sales of their products through price controls, selling in limited volume, selling only to a particular group of customers or selling only within limited geographical areas. 
• - Questionable statements asserting that only one vendor can offer a product to a specific customer or to a designated group of customers. *Sellers of different product brands making large, relatively equal price changes on similar products within a narrow timeframe.
• - Rival businesses submitting identical bids for a product or service.
• - Contracts that appear to be awarded to a fixed set of bidders in a regular rotation.
• - One company continually achieving the lowest contract bid for the same product or service or within a given region.
• - A project that receives an unusually low number of competitive bids.
• - A winning bid that stands out from other bids by an unusually wide dollar margin with no apparent explanation. 
• - One bidder who greatly varies bid amounts between projects with no marked cost differences to support the changes.

These signs are not all-inclusive, nor do they prove than an antitrust violation has occurred. Further investigation is warranted, however, as they may signal a real problem. Report these or other suspicious activities to antitrust authorities who will then determine if any laws have been broken. 

Report Antitrust violations here.

If you have information about unfair business practices, complete the form on this page or call 1-800-934-2921 for a free no obligation consultation with an antitrust lawyer.