Behind the Scenes With the Amazon Counterfeit Crimes Unit

Amazon has released a new video of their counterfeit crimes unit in action working in partnership with U.S. Homeland Security Investigations and the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.

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The video released shows the three agencies working together on some intelligence that Amazon had gathered which led to the more than 10,000 counterfeit auto parts worth an estimated $1.2 million being removed from the global supply chain.

Amazon Taking The Fight To Counterfeiters Globally

This isn’t the first time that Amazon’s counterfeit crimes unit has been part of an investigation resulting in taking counterfeits out of the global network. Earlier this year Amazon intelligence led to a raid in a Chinese warehouse resulting in products not making it to the supply chain.

The task of stopping counterfeiters when it comes to marketplaces is almost impossible to eradicate completely. Marketplace companies strive to make their listing process as easy as possible for genuine sellers, however, this in turn also makes it easy for bad actors to do the same.

When large marketplaces have hundreds of thousands of new listings going live daily, it is next to impossible to have human intervention early, and AI technology could run the risk of flagging legitimate sellers who may be new to eCommerce.

“We hope that this video brings home for viewers that counterfeiting is not a victimless crime. Fake products harm brands, legitimate rights owners, and consumers,” said Kebharu Smith, director of Amazon’s Counterfeit Crimes Unit.

“Often, these criminals are affiliated with other nefarious activities, such as human trafficking, identity fraud, and money laundering. We appreciate the partnership with the brands involved, Homeland Security Investigations, and the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department for acting on our referrals and pursuing the case. Together, we can better help stop counterfeit crimes at scale.”

You can find out more about the Amazon Counterfeit Crimes Unit here.