Amazon Helps Disrupt Three Major Counterfeit Networks, Protecting Customers Worldwide from Fake Goods
10 November 2022 - 1:00AM
Business Wire
Joint operations with law enforcement led to
the seizure of more than 240,000 counterfeit items in China,
including fake luxury products, sports apparel, and automotive
accessories infringing on BMW, Hugo Boss, Lacoste, Under Armour,
and other brands.
Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) today announced the
identification and disruption of three counterfeiting operations in
China thanks to local Public Security Bureaus (PSB) and intel
provided by Amazon’s Counterfeit Crimes Unit (CCU). Law enforcement
seized more than 240,000 counterfeit items in the Guangdong and
Jiangxi provinces. The items were imitations of luxury, sports, and
automotive brands. The seizure prevented the fake products from
reaching Amazon customers or being sold elsewhere in the supply
chain. These seizures of counterfeit goods based on intelligence
from Amazon follow similar actions by law enforcement in England
and the U.S. that took place in California and New Jersey.
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Law enforcement raid action photo of
counterfeit car accessory factory (Photo: Business Wire)
“Our efforts to identify and dismantle counterfeit organizations
are working,” said Kebharu Smith, associate general counsel and
director of the Amazon Counterfeit Crimes Unit. “We appreciate law
enforcement acting on our referrals and thoroughly pursuing these
cases. These outcomes protect Amazon customers, disrupt the
counterfeit supply chain, and halt their illicit proceeds.”
Information and intelligence provided by Amazon’s CCU to local
authorities, including the locations of warehouses and
manufacturing facilities, led to the successful identification and
disruption of three major counterfeit operations and their upstream
suppliers. The main suspects have been detained by local PSBs for
further investigation. Any infringing listings connected to these
cases have been eliminated.
Upon searching the facilities, law enforcement seized more than
130,000 counterfeit car accessories and fake brand labels that
infringed on many brands’ intellectual property including BMW,
Porsche, and General Motors; nearly 80,000 counterfeit luxury
products; and more than 30,000 pieces of counterfeit clothing and
fake brand labels that infringed on Hugo Boss, Puma and Under
Armour’s intellectual property among others. This latest effort
adds to the more than 3 million counterfeit products Amazon
identified, seized, and appropriately disposed of last year, which
included counterfeits sent to Amazon’s fulfillment centers in an
unsuccessful attempt to sell to Amazon customers.
Amazon has also cooperated with local PSBs in China on
operations involving bad actors that illegally purchased
government-issued personal identities and business licenses in an
attempt to register fraudulent Amazon seller accounts. As a result,
84 individuals were detained. Last year, Amazon stopped more than
2.5 million attempts by bad actors around the world to create new
selling accounts, preventing them from listing a single product for
sale.
Amazon works across the globe to fight counterfeiters, recently
filing joint lawsuits with well-known brands, including Cartier, GE
Appliances, WWE, Salvatore Ferragamo, and FELCO. Through its
partnership with brands of all sizes, Amazon’s CCU constantly
uncovers new approaches counterfeiters take to try to deceive
customers and evade the law. The CCU uses that intelligence to
equip law enforcement to pursue bad actors. In 2021, the CCU sued
or referred for investigation over 600 criminals in the U.S., UK,
EU, and China.
“There is no place for fraud on Amazon,” said Dharmesh Mehta,
vice president of Amazon’s Worldwide Selling Partner Services. “The
production and sale of counterfeit goods poses serious harm to the
intellectual property rights of the brands involved, as well as to
the legitimate interests of honest sellers—and the customers who
place their trust in our stores. While we are proud of the progress
we have made, we will not stop until we drive counterfeits to zero,
and we will continue to invest and innovate until we get
there.”
To learn more information about how Amazon’s tools protect
brands and fight counterfeiters, 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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