Amazon defends itself over claims of being ‘complicit’ with counterfeiters

E-commerce site Amazon has fired back at criticisms that it is “complicit” with counterfeiters.

In a statement sent to TBO, Amazon said that it strictly prohibits the sale of counterfeit products on its platform and heavily invests in ensuring that its counterfeit policy is followed.

Amazon’s defence comes after Casey Hopkins, founder of US-based mobile phone accessory company Elevation Lab warned that customers are unknowingly buying fake versions of products and that Amazon and the counterfeiters are profiting.

Hopkins said in a blog post that there have been different counterfeit versions of Elevation Lab’s ‘The Anchor’ (a headphone mount designed to fit underneath the user’s desk) on Amazon.

In one instance, the counterfeiters ran a company called suiningdonghanjiaju. Hopkins alleged the company produced counterfeit products that were made with the wrong logo, fake 3M adhesive and more flexible silicone, although the product was still called ‘The Anchor’.

“There is something extremely simple Amazon could do about it,” Hopkins wrote. For example, he said that if you are a registered brand in Amazon’s brand registry and you don’t sell the product wholesale, there should be a box in the directory indicating that to customers.

Hopkins said that Amazon should increase its brand registry team to become more efficient, and not keep sellers “100% anonymous” to consumers.

Since the blog post was published on Thursday, March 1, Amazon took down suiningdonghanjiaju after five days of activity. However, another counterfeiter has since appeared, according to Hopkins.

Responding to these allegations, Amazon said that it works closely with vendors to strengthen the protection of their brands.

“In addition, we encourage rights owners who have a product authenticity concern to notify us, and we investigate any such claims thoroughly,” Amazon said in a statement sent to TBO.

The marketplace said that it removes suspected counterfeit items as soon as it becomes aware of them.

“We have successfully taken legal action against a number of bad actors and will continue to pursue legal action and work with law enforcement,” added the statement.

Amazon said it makes significant investments in innovative machine learning and automated systems to anticipate counterfeit activity.

It added: “On an ongoing basis, Amazon’s systems also automatically and continuously scan numerous data points to sellers, products, brands and offers to detect activity that indicates products offered might be counterfeit.”