Amazon issued a report describing its efforts to keep counterfeit goods off its UK marketplace in 2020. “Amazon blocked more than 10 billion suspected bad listings before they were published in its stores,” according to the report. But it’s also seeking justice to hold bad actors accountable.
In a post on Amazon’s corporate blog, Vice President of Worldwide Customer Trust & Partner Support Dharmesh Mehta said the Brand Protection Report was the first time the company provided “a holistic view of our anti-counterfeiting efforts” and said, “I’m proud to share the progress our teams have made as we continue to drive to zero counterfeits.”
Not surprising was Mehta’s description of how Amazon uses technology like machine learning to keep up with bad actors, but he also said holding counterfeiters accountable through criminal prosecution was important.
“Amazon continues to innovate on its robust proactive controls and powerful tools for brands, and won’t rest until there are zero counterfeits in its store,” he wrote. “However, this is an escalating battle with criminals that continue to attempt to find ways to sell counterfeits, and the only way to permanently stop these counterfeiters is to hold them accountable through the court system and criminal prosecution.”
Some of the interesting statistics Mehta shared from the report:
- Amazon had more than 10,000 employees protecting its store from fraud and abuse.
- Amazon’s verification processes prevented over 6 million attempts to create selling accounts, stopping bad actors before they published a single product for sale.
- Only 6% of attempted account registrations passed Amazon’s robust verifications processes and listed products for sale.
- Amazon seized more than 2 million products that were sent to its fulfillment centers and that it detected as counterfeit before being sent to a customer. Amazon destroyed those products to prevent them from being resold elsewhere in the supply chain.
That last point is intriguing and raises the question of how much scrutiny items sent to Amazon Fulfillment Centers by FBA sellers receive.
Read more on the About Amazon UK blog.
since ebay attempts to be like amazon, this is something ebay should copy.
but, they won’t as long as they get the money.
Amazon banned all those listings, but somehow let other listings fall through the cracks. I bought a gemstone tester that was supposed to be a famous brand’s best model and paid a LOT of money for it. When I received the item, it was a $1 gadget with LEDs but no function. It couldn’t tell a diamond from a piece of glass and within 5 minutes stopped functioning at all. Reviews indicate other sellers had the same problem with their purchases. Amazon is aware this seller is shipping out junk; when I filed a complaint and a return, Amazon immediately refunded my money (to my Amazon gift card balance, but not to my credit card) and told me to keep the gadget. Amazon knows this seller is sending out fraudulent junk, but allows it to happen anyway.
Yeah, I’m REALLY dubious about how legitimate those numbers are. Amazon has removed over 200 of my legitimate listings this year because as a small store I cannot provide Child Protection Safety Data Sheets, or whatever they are called… even though I can provide them with invoices from either authorized distributors or the manufacturer themselves. Amazon is a JOKE.