Amazon launches counterfeit crimes unit
Amazon has established a counterfeit crimes unit, aimed at investigating, finding, and launching legal action and criminal referrals against counterfeiters.
Launched today, June 24, the team consists of former federal prosecutors, experienced investigators, and data analysts.
Dharmesh Mehta, vice president, customer trust and partner support at Amazon, said: “Every counterfeiter is on notice that they will be held accountable to the maximum extent possible under the law, regardless of where they attempt to sell their counterfeits or where they’re located.”
To investigate cases where a bad actor has listed a counterfeit on the platform, the unit will mine Amazon’s data, cull information from external resources such as payment service providers and open source intelligence, and leverage on-the-ground assets.
Mehta added: “We are working hard to disrupt and dismantle these criminal networks, and we applaud the law enforcement authorities who are already part of this fight.
“We urge governments to give these authorities the investigative tools, funding, and resources they need to bring criminal counterfeiters to justice because criminal enforcement—through prosecution and other disruption measures such as freezing assets—is one of the most effective ways to stop them.”
In 2019, Amazon blocked more than six billion suspected bad listings and more than 2.5 million suspected bad actor accounts, before they were able to make any products available for sale.
Speaking to the press yesterday, Mehta said: “While we continue to innovate, the reality is that these counterfeiters are highly motivated. We need to do more than block them from our store, we need to make sure they’re held accountable in the real world.”
Cristina Posa, associate general counsel and director at Amazon, will head up the team. She joined Amazon in March from the US Department of Justice, where she specialised in investigating, prosecuting and dismantling complex criminal networks.
The team will be based across the world and will grow “organically”, depending on the value Amazon sees in the work undertaken. At this time, it consists of Posa and a “small set of folks brought in from Amazon or from outside”, according to Mehta.
He added that law enforcement is currently working with insufficient resources to prosecute counterfeiters, and that penalties for counterfeiting are far too weak in many countries.
According to Mehta, governments need to do more, but Amazon can also do more and, by establishing this unit, Amazon can amplify its work.
“For many years, we would make a [law enforcement] referral only when we felt we had sufficient evidence to pursue a case. Earlier this year, we decided to refer every confirmed counterfeit we found in the US, Europe and China,” he said. “Now we’re referring every lead that law enforcement may be able to connect to other data.”
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