Amazon intercepted more than seven million counterfeit products in 2023

Amazon's battle against counterfeits on the platform ended last year with the identification or seizure of seven million products worldwide, one million more than in 2022, according to company data, which detected 700,000 attempts to create new fraudulent accounts, compared to six million attempts in 2020, when the company launched a specific anti-counterfeiting unit with the aim of stopping this problem.

In its

Brand Protection Report

, published this Tuesday, the technology company details that since the creation of the Amazon Anti-Counterfeiting Crimes Unit (CCU, in English) it has filed legal actions and reported more than 21,000 infringers to the authorities. .

“In 2023, Amazon strengthened cross-border collaboration with Chinese brands and authorities, which led to more than 50 raids and a hundred arrests, mostly manufacturers, suppliers and distributors,” explains Dharmesh Mehta, vice president of the company, in the document. company.

Amazon explains that its anti-fraud team is made up of 15,000 employees (from

software

developers to data scientists and researchers) and the annual investment is around 1.2 billion dollars (1.1 billion euros).

The company considers that progress is being made by creating a deterrent effect: last year, Amazon detected 700,000 attempts to create an account to sell fake products, compared to 800,000 in 2022, 2.5 million attempts in 2021 and six million in 2020.

The proliferation of counterfeits in electronic commerce not only creates distrust on the part of buyers when using a certain platform, but it can expose technology companies to assuming part of the responsibility for possible crimes committed on their websites.

In the case of Amazon, the problem is closely linked to the opening of its platform to third-party sellers (they account for 58% of the products sold).

Amazon has chosen to increase collaboration with brands and assures that in 2023 the number of complaints has fallen by 30%.

Fake reviews

Fake reviews are another problem and Amazon is using technological tools to stop their proliferation.

In recent years, an illicit industry has emerged that exploits and takes advantage of the value that reviews bring to consumers.

These offenders target customers directly through websites, social media channels, and messaging services outside of Amazon, asking them to write fake reviews in exchange for money, free products, or other incentives.

One of the latest actions was announced in March.

Amazon filed a lawsuit against the administrators of a Telegram group, which operated under the name “Free Products” and which promoted fake reviews from Spain.

The OCU also sent a request to Telegram, which has finally closed this group.

Its administrators used the encrypted instant messaging service to avoid detection and guaranteed group members a full refund of the products if they published (and presented proof of this) a five-star review in the Amazon store in Spain.

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