A racket is an illegal business, usually run as part of organized crime. Engaging in a racket is called racketeering. Organized crime is crime carried out systematically by formal criminal organizations. ...

Several forms of racket exist. The best-known is the protection racket, in which criminals demand money from businesses in exchange for the service of "protection" against crimes that the racketeers instigate if unpaid. Or, "pay me so that you won't have a 'mysterious fire' in your warehouse ..." A second well known example is the numbers racket, a form of illegal lottery. A protection racket is an extortion scheme whereby a powerful organization coerces individuals or businesses to pay protection money which allegedly serves to purchase the organizations protection services against various external threats, whereas the actual threat comes from the organization itself. ... The Numbers Game is a lottery game where the bettor attempts to pick three or four numbers from zero to nine that will be randomly drawn. ... A lottery is a popular form of gambling which involves the drawing of lots for a prize. ...

The term racket comes from the Italian world ricatto (blackmail) and is also used as a pejorative term for legitimate businesses. Typically, this usage is based on the example of the "protection racket" and indicates that the speaker believes that the business is making money by selling a solution to a problem that it created (or that it intentionally allows to continue to exist), specifically so that continuous purchases of the solution are always needed. A word or phrase is pejorative if it implies contempt or disapproval. ...

United States of America

On October 15, 1970, the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (18 U.S.C. §§ 1961-1968), commonly refered to as the RICO Act, became law. The RICO Act allowed law enforcement to charge a person or group with racketeering, defined as committing multiple violations of certain varieties within a 10 year period. The purpose of the RICO Act was stated as "the elimination of the infiltration of organized crime and racketeering into legitimate organizations operating in interstate commerce." S.Rep. No. 617, 91st Cong., 1st Sess. 76 (1969). However, the statute is sufficiently broad to encompass illegal activities relating to any enterprise affecting interstate or foreign commerce. The Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (commonly referred to as RICO) is a United States federal law which provides for extended penalties for criminal acts performed as part of an ongoing criminal organization. ... The Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (commonly referred to as RICO) is a United States federal law which provides for extended penalties for criminal acts performed as part of an ongoing criminal organization. ...

Section 1961(10) of Title 18 provides that the Attorney General may designate any department or agency to conduct investigations authorized by the RICO statute and such department or agency may use the investigative provisions of the statute or the investigative power of such department or agency otherwise conferred by law. Absent a specific designation by the Attorney General, jurisdiction to conduct investigations for violations of 18 U.S.C. § 1962 lies with the agency having jurisdiction over the violations constituting the pattern of racketeering activity listed in 18 U.S.C. § 1961. [1]

In The United States of America, civil racketeering laws are also used in their federal and state courts. These civil laws have been challenged for being excessively abusive. [2]