Amazon’s Anti-Counterfeit Efforts Block 6 Million Bad Accounts, 10 Billion Bogus Listings

Amazon, the world’s largest online retailer, said a $700 million investment and the work of 10,000 employees put a major dent in the company’s effort to eliminate the sale of counterfeit products from its site.

The findings were included in Amazon’s 2020 Brand Protection Report which was released Monday (May 10), and shed fresh light on the scope of fraudulent selling practices, as well as the scale of defense needed to thwart them.

Although Amazon said its goal was to drive counterfeit sales to zero, it was pleased with the progress it was making and said the effort was critical for both consumers and businesses.

“We’ve helped our selling partners keep their virtual doors open, and despite increased attempts by bad actors, continued to ensure that the vast majority of customers shop with confidence from our broad selection of authentic products,” said Amazon Vice President, Customer Trust and Partner Support Dharmesh Mehta. “Our team’s relentless innovation has helped us stop 6 million attempts to create a selling account and more than 10 billion suspect listings as we continue to drive counterfeits to zero.”

In addition, Amazon said it seized and destroyed more than 2 million counterfeit products before they were sent to customers so they could not be resold elsewhere in the retail supply chain.

A Global Problem

In addition to its sizable staffing commitment, Amazon also said that it had established a Counterfeit Crimes Unit that builds and refer cases to law enforcement and also undertake independent investigations or works jointly with brands to pursue litigation against counterfeiters.

At the same, the company said its Transparency product serialization service had enabled the protection of more than 500 million product units, noting that less than 0.01 percent of all products sold on Amazon had received a customer complaint about counterfeiting.

“Over the past three years, the International AntiCounterfeiting Coalition – Amazon Program has seen real, practical, and substantive results, improving the intellectual property enforcement experience for both our brand participants and the rights-holder community as a whole,” IACC President Bob Barchiesi said.

Amazon also pointed out that its IP Accelerator brand registry program had allowed more than 7,000 small and medium-sized businesses to connect with a curated network of trusted IP law firms in the U.S. and Europe that provide high quality trademark registration services at competitive rates.

“The joint action with Amazon underlines how the protection of intellectual property is a priority for Ferragamo and how the company is pursuing the fight against counterfeiting with full awareness and resolution,” Micaela le Divelec Lemmi, CEO of Salvatore Ferragamo said of the report.

For small startup brands such Food Huggers, whose silicone leftover covers take the place of plastic wrap, having the help of a powerful global partner in the fight against counterfeiters and IP thieves is critical.

“Brand owners can’t be in all places at all times. Having the Amazon brand protection tools available to small businesses gives us the ability to protect our brands and our IP around the globe,” Food Huggers Co-Founder Adrienne McNicholas said.

Amazon said it planned to continue to innovate to proactively develop new controls and tools toward the goal of assuring zero counterfeiting activity in its store, calling it an escalating battle versus criminals that continue to find new ways to avoid detection.