Amazon launches a new Counterfeit Crimes Unit in a bid to stop bootleggers from hawking knockoffs on its platform
- Amazon’s Counterfeit Crimes Unit will fight the sale of bootleg products
- It consists of lawyers, data scientists, and investigators
- The division will focus on civil lawsuits and helping law enforcement as well as conducting its own investigations
Amazon said it’s going to get tough on counterfeiters selling phony products on its platform.
The company announced the formation of a Counterfeit Crimes Unit consisting of ‘former federal prosecutors, experienced investigators, and data analysts’ that will be responsible for holding bootleggers to account.
Specifically, the division will attempt to facilitiate civil lawsuits, help brands in their investigations, and also partner with law enforcement in their separate efforts to combat counterfeiters.
Amazon has created a special division assigned to weeding out countefeit products on its platform through investigation and civil lawsuits (stock)
‘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,’ said Dharmesh Mehta, Vice President, Customer Trust and Partner Support at Amazon.
The introduction of a new unit devoted to stopping counterfeiters is no coincidence. Amazon has struggled to deal with phony products on its platform, leading some major retailers to stop selling goods through the company.
In November, Nike stopped selling products on Amazon’s platform saying that unlicensed distributors were a major factor.
The company has also invested heavily into attempting to stop counterfeit products from being sold.
According to a statement, in 2019, Amazon invested more than $500 million and had more than 8,000 employees devoted to fighting fraud and abuse, including counterfeit.
It also said that it blocked more than 2.5 million suspected bad actor accounts before they were able to sell a single product in addition to blocking over 6 billion suspected ‘bad listings’ in 2019.