New unit will fight Amazon product frauds

WEB GIANT Amazon is launching its own counterfeit crime unit to deal with fraudsters who list fake goods for sale on its online marketplace.

Former US federal prosecutors have been recruited to form the team alongside experienced investigators and data analysts.

Amazon wants to drive down the number of counterfeit products uploaded to the website down to zero.

In 2019, Amazon invested over $500m and had more than 8,000 employees fighting fraud, including counterfeit. Amazon’s efforts have blocked more than six billion suspected bad listings in 2019 and blocked over 2.5 million suspected “bad actor” accounts before they were able to make a single product available for sale. The new unit will mine Amazon’s data, cull information from external resources such as payment service providers and other intelligence.

Amazon says it enables the company to pursue civil court action, work with brands in investigations, and aid law enforcement worldwide to take action against counterfeiters.

Amazon has a history of identifying fraudulent activity. In May, Amazon identified counterfeiters in countries including Canada, China, Dominican Republic, the United Kingdom and United States.

Dharmesh Mehta, Amazon’s vice president for customer trust, said: “Every counterfeiter is on notice that they will be held accountable to the maximum extent possible under the law, regardless of where they attempt to sell their counterfeits or where they’re located.”