Amazon destroys millions of counterfeit items

Last year, Amazon withdrew and destroyed two million counterfeit items in its warehouses. The world's largest online retailer named the number in its first report on the fight against product piracy. At the same time, it was said that fewer than 0.01 percent of the products sold had complaints about possible counterfeits. Amazon did not name an absolute number of complaints. One problem for Amazon is that on its marketplace platform other retailers are repeatedly trying to sell counterfeit products. This has already led to disputes with several major brands. The group is taking countermeasures, among other things, with tightened registration hurdles. Last year, only six percent of attempts to register a merchant account passed the verification process, the report said. Among other things, Amazon sends a postcard to the address given by the retailer, which must be returned. There has also been live video verification since last year. A total of six million attempts to register a dealer account failed in 2020. In the previous year there were 2.5 million. Amazon also uses software that scans product offerings and customer reviews for signs of counterfeit sales. For example, logos in images are also analyzed. For brands, Amazon introduced programs such as "Project Zero", in which participating companies can independently remove counterfeit items from the platform. So far, more than 18,000 brands have used this option. With the "Transparency" service, manufacturers provide all their articles with unique QR codes so that their authenticity can be clearly identified when the goods are received. Around 15,000 brands have taken part in this program to date.