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Businesses Crime The Internet

Amazon Launches Counterfeit Crimes Unit To Fight Knockoffs On Its Store (theverge.com) 75

Posted by BeauHD from the going-on-the-offensive dept.
Amazon has announced that it's launching a new Counterfeit Crimes Unit as the latest effort by the online retailer to fight counterfeit products on its website. The Verge reports: The new team is said to be made up of "former federal prosecutors, experienced investigators, and data analysts," who will work to proactively "go on the offensive" against counterfeiters, instead of just reacting by trying to identify and block bad listings. According to Amazon, the new Counterfeit Crimes Unit will make it easier for the company to file civil lawsuits, aid brands in their own investigations, and work with law enforcement officials in fighting counterfeiters. Earlier this month, 3M sued merchants who used Amazon to sell 3M and counterfeit masks for more than 18 times their standard price. The Trump administration also took aim at Amazon by recently including the company's foreign websites in Canada, the U.K., Germany, France and India in its annual report on "notorious markets" for counterfeit foreign goods.
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Amazon Launches Counterfeit Crimes Unit To Fight Knockoffs On Its Store More

Amazon Launches Counterfeit Crimes Unit To Fight Knockoffs On Its Store

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  • About time (Score:5, Insightful)

    by darkain ( 749283 ) on Wednesday June 24, 2020 @07:04PM (#60224492) Homepage

    ABOUT... FUCKING... TIME...

    • Re: (Score:2, Funny)

      by Anonymous Coward
      I'm so tired of the knockoffs of the Hitachi Magic Wand floating all over (SC)Amazon. We literally had one go up in smoke at the most inopportune time.

    • Counterfeit... Unit

      More like FREUDIAN FUCKING SLIP, if the wording of the headline is any indication. No different than Microsoft having a 'Code QC Dept."

    • Re:About time (Score:5, Insightful)

      by twistedcubic ( 577194 ) on Wednesday June 24, 2020 @08:31PM (#60224724)

      I'll believe it when I see it. The problem is so bad that I always assumed Amazon did not care. I will still assume this until proven otherwise.

      • Re:About time (Score:4, Informative)

        by AmiMoJo ( 196126 ) on Thursday June 25, 2020 @03:08AM (#60225484) Homepage Journal

        In most (all?) EU countries you have a right to return goods that are not as described for free. The vendor pays return shipping. So it's really important to make sure you return fake goods to Amazon. It costs them money. Be sure to destroy the packaging too (or just stick the return sticker to it and use it as the shipping box) so they can't just resell it to someone else. Check your local laws but in the UK you don't have to return the original packaging.

      • Re:About time (Score:4, Interesting)

        by gbjbaanb ( 229885 ) on Thursday June 25, 2020 @05:52AM (#60225738)

        They probably are starting to care now because:

        1. poor PR, not that they really care about consumers, just our money, but if it has gotten so bad the consumers are staying away, then they care

        2. regulations. They care that a big bad fine is staring them in the face, so they're getting ahead of it.

        3. reputable sellers. If they are leaving because they cannot sell their good stuff because of all the crappy counterfeit stuff, then Amazon will care.

        I'm sure they have been made to care because they think they will lose market share or otherwise suffer. and maybe once the counterfeiters are gone, the branded products will go back up in price and amazon will make even more profit from their fees!

      • Agreed. Though maybe they didnâ(TM)t care until the brand started taking a hit. Look at Zoom. I would think twice about selling on Amazon or using AWS if they fail to apply serious tech and resources towards cleaning it up. They have billions, it is worth it to spend 20 million on policing it.

    • Comment removed based on user account deletion

    • It's really hard to sell legit shirts on amazon, but super easy to sell counterfeit electronics that are obviously infringing on copyrights.

      it's ridiculous. amazon could just have 1 guy do 10 searches every day to weed out like 99% of pirate consoles and pirated console games and such that are on amazon.

      meanwhile if you say owned an asian shirt factory and made shirts under your own brand it's really really really really hard to get amazon to accept you as a brand and authenticated seller for that brand.

      ets

  • Amazon's grey market problem (Score:4, Insightful)

    by WolfWalker545 ( 960367 ) on Wednesday June 24, 2020 @07:26PM (#60224564)
    Until Amazon uses some mechanism to track goods by both supplier and SKU, they'll continue to have problems with counterfeits.

    • Re: (Score:3)

      by dszd0g ( 127522 )

      They offer it as "Transparency" service, but they charge for it:

      https://brandservices.amazon.c... [amazon.com]

    • Blockchain to the rescue!

      ... right?

    • Re: (Score:3)

      by lgw ( 121541 )

      They've always been able to distinguish between "sold by Amazon" and other suppliers, but same SKU from different non-Amazon suppliers can get binned together, which is a serious problem with gray market and outright fraud items. Last I heard they were working on that (for other reasons, of course). But the way things work over there, it's likely it will only apply to new warehouses for many years. They rarely change the tech in existing ones until they get way behind.

      Still, Amazon's consumer-facing anti

    • The problem is they let anyone sell anything through the site. Half the shit on there is from people buying it in retail stores and marking it up a few bucks. People assume Amazon has the cheapest price and buy it there.

    • It is too easy for fakers to get a new name, email etc and start over. You have to have real people show up and get blue ink on the paper.
  • For this very reason. More often than not I had to return fake merchandise. The final straw is when I purchased an expensive set of Mitutoyo calipers only to find they were completely fake.

    • Stuff like that is why I use http://mscdirect.com/ [mscdirect.com] MSC for any non-trivial purchase. Also McMaster-Carr.

      • *This* is why I still stop by Slashdot. McMaster-Carr I knew about, but not MSC.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by ELCouz ( 1338259 )
      Bought my 200$ Mitutoyo caliper on Amazon. Genuine (trust me I know fakes some are pretty good looking).

      The secret to fix 99.9% of fakes? Sold by Amazon
      • "Sold by Amazon" - yep, did that, still got fake calipers. Luckily able to return them for full refund. Hell, Amazon was very quick to process my return, as though they were expecting returns of these for being fake.

  • In simple terms (Score:5, Insightful)

    by JustAnotherOldGuy ( 4145623 ) on Wednesday June 24, 2020 @07:40PM (#60224600) Journal

    In simple terms, the Amazon marketplace has become too big and too busy to police in any meaningful way.

    It's basically 50,000 fleet-footed criminals, counterfeiters, and scammers versus a handful of fraud investigators. Guess who's going to win?

    • "Fleet footed?" I'd love to set up wagers on how long they let flagrantly fraudulent products stay up, even after one star reviews reporting the fraud get posted.

      Want a 2TB usb Drive for 50 bucks?
      https://www.amazon.com/2TB-USB... [amazon.com]

      I remain curious what would happen if I bought a thousand of them.

      • "Fleet footed?" I'd love to set up wagers on how long they let flagrantly fraudulent products stay up, even after one star reviews reporting the fraud get posted.

        Want a 2TB usb Drive for 50 bucks? https://www.amazon.com/2TB-USB... [amazon.com]

        I remain curious what would happen if I bought a thousand of them.

        Probably this: We're very sorry that your package has not yet arrived. At this point, we can only presume that the package was lost during shipping. As the item(s) is/are unavailable for replacement, we've requested a refund for the full amount of this shipment, including shipping costs.

        • Good stuff:

          Question: Does it come formatted as fat32?
          Answer: yes,it comes formatted as fat32.
          By LEKIKPO-USA Seller on June 15, 2020

  • As long as Amazon mixes merchandise provided by different sellers under the same ASIN (Amazon Standard Identification Number) in their warehouses, how can they possibly stop counterfeiting? Counterfeits are often very well done -- even with fancy security labels.

    • They could become a middle man distributor. Basically get the contract price a merchant has for product x, then be the ones that directly orders product x from the official channel at that contract price. More deviously, they could just get their own bulk contract price and charge the merchant their higher price plus the normal Amazon cut. Either way, Amazon would receive legitimate product directly, and sell it for someone else at that merchant's designated price. The merchant being left responsible fo

    • As long as Amazon mixes merchandise provided by different sellers under the same ASIN (Amazon Standard Identification Number) in their warehouses, how can they possibly stop counterfeiting? Counterfeits are often very well done -- even with fancy security labels.

      As much manufacturing occurs in either dictatorships, or nominal democracies plagued with runaway corruption, corporations have legalese in their contracts that their assembly lines will not be used to run off unauthorized copies.

      So some of these fakes aren't just good, they're perfect, except for crappier materials and less attention to quality assurance.

      Remember that with aircraft and vehicle parts.

  • it's fakes everywhere I look.

    • Re: (Score:2, Insightful)

      by Anonymous Coward

      Go to a B&M store or at least order from one. Best Buy, Walmart, Fry's. Although watch out if ordering online from Walmart because they also have 3rd party sellers which you don't want to use.

  • Is it real action or not? (Score:5, Interesting)

    by dszd0g ( 127522 ) on Wednesday June 24, 2020 @07:55PM (#60224640) Homepage

    The question is if this is real or just Amazon pretending to do something about counterfeiters to preempt legislation or investigations.

    Amazon has seemed overly friendly with counterfeiters. They delete reviews that complain about counterfeit goods and do not ban sellers of counterfeit goods after repeat complaints. They even threaten companies with going with "gray market" sources if they won't lower prices.

    https://www.inc.com/magazine/2... [inc.com]

    "Barnett said Amazon pressured PopSockets to lower the price of its products on the platform and said if it failed to do so, the company would source product from the “gray market,” or third-party sellers."

    https://www.cnbc.com/2020/01/1... [cnbc.com]

    • Isn't the reinvention of feudalism grand?

    • > They even threaten companies with going with "gray market" sources if they won't lower prices.

      If Target wants $6 for a gallon of genuine Borden brand milk, ajd Walmart sells the same genuine Borden milk for $4, I'm shopping at Walmart. I'm not going to buy from someone who is over-charging me. If someone else sells the same genuine product for a better price, I'm going to choose the better price.

      If you DON'T do that, I have some things I'd like to sell you. For example I have some toilet paper for yo

      • I'm torn between my dislike of the retail sales model and my dislike of people who don't care what predatory pricing is. I hope you enjoy the debased brands and bottom binned products that get sold at such places though.

        • I don't think PopSockets is accusing Amazon of predatory pricing.
          Predatory pricing is selling a product at a price lower than the cost of production, with a plan to achieve a monopoly and then raise prices.

          PopSockets wanted Amazon to buy from one particular distributor and not buy direct from PopSockets or from the other distributor PopSockets sells to. PS sells to Distributor A for $5, who sells to retailers for $6.00. Amazon was buying them for $6 and selling them for $10.

          PS started also selling them th

          • I forgot thr footnote at the end clarifying that I don't know the exact wholesale prices. The point is that AMZ would be buying from a distributor that PS sells to. If PS sells to a distributor at price lower than it costs them to make the product, that's just PS being stupid. Really stupid. It's not Amazon's fault if the PopSocket's leadership is so Stu as to sell their product at a loss.

          • I got riled up by an example of Walmart undercutting people. I admit the specific example is quite fair.

            • That's a refreshingly gracious reply, thanks. :)

              If I ever go asshole on you, remind me that you didn't act like that, so I should grow up.

  • Counterfeit Crimes Unit? Is this an Amazon Police unit? Amazon Bureau of Investigations(ABI)?

    How about Amazon keep it at ToS enforcement department.

  • The counterfeiters take down the legit sellers (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Proudrooster ( 580120 ) on Wednesday June 24, 2020 @08:44PM (#60224752) Homepage

    On Amazon if you get multiple counterfeit complaints (or item not as described) from buyers Amazon can take your money, sieze/destroy your inventory, and shut you down. This is why Amazon is filled with so much grey market and counterfeit garbage. So now because of Amazon's greed (keeping the money of sellers it shutdown) their marketplace is full of cut throats. Nefarious sellers will have friends/fake accounts purchase items that are competing with theirs and then file complaints to get the good sellers removed. It happens on both Amazon and Ebay.

    Amazon account suspension has gotten so bad there is actually an industry to help people recover their money from Amazon. [google.com]

    I don't buy anything that is name brand or easy to copy from Amazon or Ebay and go direct to a legitimate reseller. Amazon is becoming the underworld of online sales and I think they have allowed it to go on for too long to reign it back in now.

  • Amazon Launches Counterfeit Crimes Unit To Fight Knockoffs On Its Shore

    THAT's what I read, and I was thinking: their shore? When did Amazon buy the country, or we become the Amazon States of America?

    And then: does that include everywhere that Amazon has a warehouse presence? Isn't that just New New England, over which the Sun Never Sets?

    Hell, it's probably right. (Do It Anywhere With Prime.) And then that means Russia must be Google: Do No[retracted] Evil, while China would be the company with the most people so ... Microsoft (slogan: We Are Evil Incarnate -- but we'

  • make an cops like show out of it!

    • Didn't you hear they cancelled Cops because seeing what police see day in and day out on television might give viewers a different impression of real crime than the impression they preferred you have.

  • That Amazon is prosecuted as the largest seller of stolen goods in the world.

  • ...what it is today. I have been a victim of inventory mixing. A few years back, I bought a Lenovo battery from amazon.com, not a 3rd party seller, at full price. What they sent me was clearly counterfeit. It had typos on the label. It had the wrong model number. It didn't work. It was clearly a scam. I believe that amazon.com didn't know it was counterfeit. I know lenovo didn't sell it to them. They refunded my money, but why do I have to guess if I am getting scammed or not? Sure, if I got it for 1/3 the listing price, I probably should have known better, but when I buy at a normal price from a trusted seller, I would assume they are not cheating me.

    Another area is camera lenses. When you search for lenses, the first result is from grey market sellers. In fact, since Amazon doesn't distinguish seller, you see tons of great reviews and you think to yourself..."This is my lucky day. I am getting a lens for 25% less than B&H. I am so glad I searched for Amazon." The problem is the 3rd party seller isn't authorized to sell the lens. If it fails, they won't honor the warranty. Canon, Nikon, Sigma, Tamron, etc all specify contracts for what price you can sell a lens for. For a Sigma Art, the profit margin is approx 25%. Sleazy 3rd party sellers will sell you one for near cost. Since it's on amazon, it says "3 year warranty" which is false and illegal. The 3rd party sellers figured out if they offered prime and a lower price, they get listed first. So yeah, you can buy it from Amazon for $950 or you can buy it from SuperHappyFunCameraAToZ for $799. The problem is that the $799 one is listed first and very prominently so you have to search for a legit vendor. Amazon.com is a legit vendor, but you never know with 3rd parties.

    Finally, there are many Amazon-sanctioned scams. For example AmazonBasics rechargeable batteries. A few years ago, they were rebranded Eneloops for a fraction of the price...This was the golden era of AmazonBasics, when you got high quality stuff at a great price...right before Amazon flipped the switch and became profitable. Around when it was announced Jeff Bezos is the world's richest man, they changed their vendors from top quality Japanese batteries to cheapo Chinese vendors. I have batteries from both eras. The old ones are as good as Eneloops. The new ones fail on me all the time, can't hold a charge, etc. So....why is this fraud?...they have 57,000 reviews, mostly from the old version. They completely changed the product, but kept all the old positive reviews. Now you see nothing but problems, but the first batch of reviewers had a great experience. Beyond changing the product without resetting the reviews, they also bundle similar products from the same vendor. Many times, I have seen a product I was interested and been confused by the reviews since they weren't describing what I searched for. You can't even filter the reviews. I tried buying a portable monitor. It had great specs, but it was mixed in with 6 other monitors, varying greatly in design and quality...so the reviews were misleading and it was impossible for me to determine how people's experience was with the product I wanted unless I loaded every single review and carefully read which product it applied to.

    Amazon is a cesspool. The world needs to wise up to it and stop buying from them, especially since they are usually MORE expensive than Target or WalMart. Jeff Bezos hacked our brain. He offered an AMAZING product and trained us all to shop Amazon and even pay an annual Prime fee to do so...and offered an amazing experience for many years...so amazing you'd have to be an idiot NOT to shop there...then he quickly changed everything and raised the prices and lowered the quality and focused more on enabling other vendors to take on the risk, users to deal with the fraud, etc. However, most people don't check prices. Most people don't even notice counterfeit goods. They think Amazon is the best and they can do no better and it's pointless to even look a
  • Why don't they start with their own internal practices? Do you know how hard it is to buy a genuine product from Amazon in some categories? Even "ships and sold by Amazon" are often counterfeit goods because they comingle their inventory with "fulfilled by Amazon" inventory supplied by third party sellers. The third parties send counterfeits and when you buy direct from Amazon they fulfill from that same bin full of counterfeit shit. They've known about this problem for a decade and refuse to do anything ab
  • Are they going to do anything about fake products, like 2000-lumen $15 flashlights or 9900 mAh 18650 batteries?
  • Comment removed based on user account deletion

  • Or are they following the "become your enemy" mantra? :)

    Thank you, thank you, I'm here all week! Try the Bouchees a la Reine!

  • Amazon tries to get its shit together now after a recent [court ruling]. A woman bought a retractable dog leash, the dog lunged, leash broke, sprung back and knocked the woman's eye off. Amazon was unable to locate the seller but disclaimed liability, claiming to be just a hosting platform for the sellers to facilitate trade between the sellers and the buyers. The court didn't buy this claim and found Amazon responsible for the damages for injury resulting from the faulty product.

    A different lawsuit was fil

  • I don't understand why trading standards (or the US equivalent) hasn't forced Amazon to act before. As a retailer they are responsible for the products they send to their customers. Go on Amazon and search for 2TB USB sticks, and you'll find plenty for less than £20. Because they're not 2TB they're more like 2GB and just over-write old data with new. Great until you want to actually read from the stick. If Amazon were fined the maximum amount for every clearly fake product like this, they'd figure out

  • I've tried to call out their counterfeit problem in review, only to have review pulled ...

  • ** Sponsored ** listing shipped by Amazon with a 4 star rating. $39.99

    https://www.amazon.com/Memory-... [amazon.com]

    ** Sponsored ** listing shipped by Amazon $37.99

    https://www.amazon.com/jing-Hi... [amazon.com]

    Shipped by Amazon for a whopping $19.99

    https://www.amazon.com/Flash-D... [amazon.com]

    Shipped by Amazon for $22.59 ... interestingly enough this item is sold by random noise "yantaijingjijishukaifaqutanzuibajieluweibanfandian" apparently Amazon does not even bother to do even rudimentary vetting of the people it is fulfilling orders for.

    htt [amazon.com]

  • Amazon is about as safe as that sketchy flea market across the railroad tracks. You might get good deals, you might get taken. You may get to know a couple vendors and trust them, but you never know when their stall will be taken over by someone else. Until they get the Chinese to feel the pain of it, it will ALWAYS be that cyber flea market.
  • I am starting to see Never on Amazon in the ads. More businesses going that route is what will make Amazon feel the pain. Besides it is getting easier to set up your own website and shipping. The service Amazon provides to small businesses is getting cheaper to replace.
  • Amazon is famous for creating cheap Chinese knockoffs of various products sold by independent businesses on their website. How much cheaper quality products can be made to undercut Amazon's prices, which are not often the lowest anyway? Amazon wants to become so enmeshed with our lives that we become addicted to it for everything. Good luck with that, Prime members.

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