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Amazon disposed of more than 7 million counterfeit products from its marketplace in 2023, as per a company report.

The ecommerce giant said it invested over $1.2 billion and employed more than 15,000 people, including machine learning scientists, software developers, and expert investigators, dedicated to identifying counterfeit fraud.

Since its launch in 2020, Amazon’s Counterfeit Crimes Unit has pursued more than 21,000 bad actors through litigation and criminal referrals to law enforcement. Strengthening its cross-border anti-counterfeiting collaboration with brands and Chinese law enforcement in 2023, Amazon said it had helped execute more than 50 successful raid actions, identifying and detaining over 100 bad actors, many of whom were manufacturers, suppliers, or upstream distributors of counterfeit products.

Amazon uses government-issued photo IDs, taxpayer details, and banking information to identify bad actors before they start selling on its marketplace. Additionally, it employs technologies like computer vision and large language models to accurately detect complex visual IP infringements such as logos, shapes, and patterns, including manipulations meant to evade detection systems, according to the statement.

For Amazon, counterfeit products can diminish its credibility as a reliable marketplace, leading to both sellers and buyers abandoning the platform, it said. Counterfeit listings also divert money away from genuine brands. In 2016, media outlets reported that a luxury sandal maker had stopped supplying to Amazon US due to counterfeits and unauthorised selling on the platform.