Information from the public is vital to the work of the Antitrust Division. Your e-mails, letters, and phone calls could be our first alert to a possible violation of antitrust laws and may provide the initial evidence needed to begin an investigation.

To report antitrust concerns to the Antitrust Division:

• Step 1: Fully Describe Your Concern
• Step 2: Submit the Concern to the Citizen Complaint Center

If you do not think your concerns involve the antitrust laws, you may want to visit the Department of Justice site for more information or send an e-mail to AskDOJ@usdoj.gov.

Related items on this page:

• Comments or Questions about Specific Industries or Events
• How We Handle Your Complaint
• Confidentiality Policy and Privacy Policy
• Criminal Antitrust Leniency Program for Companies and Individuals

Step 1: Fully Describe Your Concern

If you have information about a possible antitrust violation or potential anticompetitive activity, use the following questions as a guideline to describe your complaint:

• What are the names of companies, individuals, or organizations that are involved?

• How do you believe they have violated the federal antitrust laws? (For details on federal antitrust laws, see Antitrust Laws and You.)

• Can you give examples of the conduct that you believe violates the antitrust laws? If so, please provide as much detail as possible.

• What is the product or service affected by this conduct? Where is the product manufactured or sold, or where is the service provided?

• Who are the major competitors that sell the product or provide the service?

• What is your role in the situation in question?

• Who is harmed by the alleged violations? How are they harmed?

Step 2: Submit the Concern to the Citizen Complaint Center

You may submit your concern by e-mail, regular mail, or phone.

Comments or Questions about Specific Industries or Events

You may wish to review the following specific industry and event resource pages, and if appropriate, direct your questions, comments, or concerns to the corresponding Antitrust Division contacts.

• Agriculture Workshops: See Agriculture and Antitrust Enforcement Issues in Our 21st Century Economy and send e-mails to agriculturalworkshops@usdoj.gov.
• Concert Industry: If you have information about potential violations of the Final Judgment in United States v. Ticketmaster Entertainment, Inc. and Live Nation, Inc. or other anticompetitive conduct in the concert industry, please e-mail concert.industry@usdoj.gov.
• Recovery Act: See Economic Recovery Initiative and if you encounter the “Red Flags of Collusion,” including bid rigging involving Recovery Act funds, send an e-mail to antitrust.complaints.recovery@usdoj.gov.
• Real Estate: See Competition and Real Estate and send e-mails to RealEstateCompetition@usdoj.gov.

How We Handle Your Complaint

The Antitrust Division's Citizen Complaint Center (CCC) handles complaints in the following way:

1. The CCC creates a record of the information that you provided.
2. The CCC conducts a preliminary review of your complaint for possible antitrust violations.
3. If your complaint raises sufficient concern under the Federal antitrust laws, the CCC refers it to the appropriate Division legal staff where additional research may lead to a formal investigation into the reported conduct.
4. If the Division decides to review your complaint further, you will likely be contacted within one month of submitting your complaint.

In some instances, the volume of mail, e-mail, and phone calls on a particular issue is so great that we cannot respond to each message individually. We would like you to know, however, that your views are important and all incoming correspondence is forwarded to the appropriate staff within the Antitrust Division for review.

Confidentiality Policy and Privacy Policy

Our Confidentiality Policy and Privacy Policy apply to all complaints received by the Antitrust Division.

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.

Leniency application instructions, the Division’s corporate and individual leniency policies, model leniency letters, and other information regarding the Division’s Leniency Program are available on the Leniency Program page.