Amazon Announces its Latest Advances in Counterfeit Protection for Customers, Brands, and Selling Partners

Rhea-AI Summary

Amazon has released its third annual Brand Protection Report, showcasing significant advancements in combating counterfeiting. In 2022, the company halted over 800,000 attempts to create fraudulent seller accounts, a reduction from 2.5 million in 2021. Additionally, it identified and disposed of over six million counterfeit products, with more than 1,300 criminal referrals made in the U.S., UK, EU, and China. The report emphasizes Amazon's focus on robust technology and partnerships to enhance buyer safety and brand integrity.

Positive

• Stopped over 800,000 attempts to create counterfeit seller accounts in 2022, down from 2.5 million in 2021.
• Identified and disposed of over six million counterfeit products, protecting the global supply chain.
• Made over 1,300 criminal referrals in 2022 to deter counterfeiters in multiple regions.

Negative

• None.

Amazon’s Brand Protection Report details how the company’s industry-leading technology and experts have increasingly deterred bad actors and prevented millions of counterfeit products from entering the global supply chain

SEATTLE--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) today released its third annual Brand Protection Report, highlighting how the company's efforts to protect customers, brands, and selling partners from counterfeit products has resulted in more criminal referrals and industry partnerships than ever before. The report also demonstrates how the strategic combination of industry-leading technology and experts are successfully stopping bad actors and making an impact beyond Amazon’s store—identifying, seizing, and appropriately disposing of over six million counterfeit products in 2022, preventing them from reaching customers and being resold elsewhere in the global supply chain.

“We take pride in the progress our organization has made this past year, specifically further evolving our technology to stay ahead of bad actors and doubling down on our criminal referral and litigation efforts,” said Dharmesh Mehta, Amazon’s Vice President of Worldwide Selling Partner Services. “We’re appreciative of the growing industry-wide collaboration in this space, and look forward to continuing to innovate and work together to drive counterfeits to zero.”

Amazon’s Brand Protection Report highlights progress in four key areas: 1) robust proactive controls to protect its store, 2) powerful tools to protect brands, 3) holding bad actors accountable, and 4) protecting and educating customers:

Increasingly Deterring Bad Actors: Our robust seller verification, including connecting one-on-one with prospective sellers through video chat, coupled with continued advancements in our machine learning-based detection, are deterring bad actors from even attempting to create new Amazon selling accounts. In 2022, we stopped over 800,000 attempts to create new selling accounts, preventing bad actors from publishing a single product for sale—down from 2.5 million attempts in 2021, and 6 million attempts in 2020.

Expanded Adoption of Brand Protection Tools: We continued improving our automated protection technologies which leverage our partnership with brands enrolled in Brand Registry and the data they provide us, reducing the need for brands to find and report infringements. In 2022, adoption of our brand protection programs continued to grow—and at the same time, the absolute number of valid notices of infringement filed by brands in Brand Registry decreased by over 35%.

Holding Counterfeiters Accountable and Stopping Them From Abusing Our Store and Others: Our efforts to identify and dismantle counterfeit organizations are working and making a positive impact. In 2022, Amazon’s Counterfeit Crimes Unit sued or referred for investigation over 1,300 criminals in the U.S., UK, EU, and China. We continued to partner with brands and law enforcement to not only stop these bad actors, but we also worked to go upstream from the counterfeit signals we detected to identify, seize, and appropriately dispose of over six million counterfeit products. This prevented them from being resold anywhere in the supply chain.

Strengthening Consumer Education: In partnership with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and U.S. Customs and Border Protection, we built marketing campaigns that helped educated consumers about how to shop safely and ensure they were purchasing authentic products, while also ensuring they understood the harm and dangers of purchasing counterfeits. These campaigns reached over 70 million consumers in the U.S.

To view the full Amazon Brand Protection Report, click here.

About Amazon

Amazon is guided by four principles: customer obsession rather than competitor focus, passion for invention, commitment to operational excellence, and long-term thinking. Amazon strives to be Earth’s Most Customer-Centric Company, Earth’s Best Employer, and Earth’s Safest Place to Work. Customer reviews, 1-Click shopping, personalized recommendations, Prime, Fulfillment by Amazon, AWS, Kindle Direct Publishing, Kindle, Career Choice, Fire tablets, Fire TV, Amazon Echo, Alexa, Just Walk Out technology, Amazon Studios, and The Climate Pledge are some of the things pioneered by Amazon. For more information, visit amazon.com/about and follow @AmazonNews.

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FAQ

What were the key findings in Amazon's 2023 Brand Protection Report?

Amazon's 2023 Brand Protection Report highlighted a reduction in counterfeit seller account attempts, from 2.5 million in 2021 to 800,000 in 2022, and the identification of over six million counterfeit products.

How many counterfeit products did Amazon prevent from entering the market in 2022?

In 2022, Amazon prevented over six million counterfeit products from reaching the market.

What actions did Amazon take against counterfeiters in 2022?

Amazon made over 1,300 criminal referrals to law enforcement in the U.S., UK, EU, and China in 2022.

How has Amazon improved its brand protection tools in 2022?

Amazon improved its automated protection technologies and reduced the need for brands to report infringements, leading to a 35% decrease in valid notices of infringement.

What is Amazon's commitment to consumer safety regarding counterfeit products?

Amazon is focused on educating consumers on how to shop safely and recognize authentic products, reaching over 70 million consumers in the U.S.