Amazon Seized More Than 15 Million Counterfeit Products in 2024

Amazon continued its fight against counterfeit goods in 2024 by using artificial intelligence (AI) tools, seeing that counterfeiters are held liable and increasing brands’ use of its brand protection features.

The company’s AI tools that proactively block infringements stopped more than 99% of suspected infringements before a brand had to find and report them, Amazon told PYMNTS in an email sharing highlights from its fifth Brand Protection Report.

These tools have also enabled the company to reduce by 35% the number of valid notices of infringement submitted by brands, compared to 2020, even as the number of products available in its store has continued to grow.

To hold counterfeiters accountable, Amazon has worked with brands and law enforcement on civil litigation and criminal referrals to law enforcement organizations, according to the email. Since the launch of its Counterfeit Crimes Unit in 2020, Amazon has taken those actions against more than 24,000 bad actors.

In 2024, Amazon also identified, seized and disposed of more than 15 million counterfeit products.

The company has also seen increased use of its brand protection features, per the email. These includes its anti-counterfeiting tool called Project Zero, which has been used by 35,000 brands since its launch in 2019, and its Transparency program, which has enrolled more than 88,000 brands and verified as genuine more than 2.5 billion product units.

“Additionally, throughout 2024 Amazon helped brands and sellers protect their products globally with new AI-powered tools and a wide expansion of our brand protection programs to make it more difficult for bad actors to evade our detection systems, enabling us to scan our store with more nuance and understanding of context rather than just literal matches,” Amazon said in the email.

Amazon is not the only eCommerce marketplace cracking down on counterfeit products, PYMNTS reported in March 2024. A Michigan State University study released in 2023 found that nearly 7 in 10 consumers had unknowingly bought counterfeit items via eCommerce channels at least once in the previous year.

When Amazon launched its Counterfeit Crimes Unit in 2020, the company said it brought together former federal prosecutors, experienced investigators and data analysts in hopes of ensuring no counterfeit item makes it onto the eCommerce site in the first place.

The company introduced Project Zero in 2019 to detect counterfeit products by deploying advanced technology, machine learning and the knowledge brands have of their own intellectual property.

The civil litigation Amazon pursued in 2024 included a lawsuit against companies and individuals the company alleged obtained invalid trademarks or filed fake complaints to have Amazon remove their competitors from its store.