Amazon Brand Protection Report: Over 15 Million Counterfeit Products Detected
Amazon has published its fifth Brand Protection Report. The report highlights the success of the e-commerce giant’s strategy to reduce counterfeiting to zero. According to the report, over 15 million counterfeit products were detected worldwide in 2024.
Dharmesh Mehta, Vice President of Amazon Global Selling Partner Services, wrote an article on the fifth Amazon Brand Protection Report. Mehta stated that since 2021, Amazon’s annual Brand Protection Report has showcased its efforts to protect customers, brands, and partners from counterfeit products. He also added: “In its fifth year, the report continues to demonstrate how the combination of industry-leading technology and strategic partnerships successfully stops bad actors and creates impact beyond the Amazon store.”
Amazon’s Counterfeit Crimes Unit (CCU) is a global team dedicated to disrupting counterfeiters and their networks by partnering with law enforcement, brands, and other stakeholders. Mehta noted that in 2024, Amazon invested over $1 billion in brand protection; employed thousands of people dedicated to combating fraud, counterfeiting, and other abuses, including machine learning scientists, software developers, and expert researchers.
Amazon’s Brand Protection Strategy
Amazon’s brand protection strategy focuses on four main areas: • Strong and highly effective proactive efforts to protect the store, • Industry-leading tools to help rights holders better protect their brands, • Progress in holding bad actors accountable, • Customer protection and education.
Mehta said, “This has been a years-long journey, and we continue to make great strides in stopping counterfeiting.”
Highlights from the Brand Protection Report
- 99% of Suspicious Listings Blocked
Through its investment in artificial intelligence, Amazon has automated and scaled intellectual property protection and counterfeiting detection systems, improving its proactive controls. Amazon’s proactive controls blocked over 99% of suspicious infringement listings before a brand had to find and report them. Since 2020, while the number of products offered has increased, the total number of valid infringement notifications sent by brands has decreased by approximately 35%.
- Over 2.5 Billion Product Units Verified
Amazon launched an application programming interface (API) for Transparency, which automates the process for brands to register and manage their products. Through Amazon’s Transparency program, over 2.5 billion product units have been verified as authentic. Worldwide, 88,000 brands have registered, including Fortune 500 companies, global brands, startups, and small businesses.
- Over 15 Million Counterfeit Products Detected
By partnering with brands and law enforcement, Amazon has been able to hold more bad actors accountable. Since the launch of its Counterfeit Crimes Unit in 2020, Amazon has tracked over 24,000 bad actors through cases and criminal referrals to law enforcement. In 2024, Amazon detected, seized, and properly disposed of over 15 million counterfeit products globally, preventing them from harming customers or being resold in the retail supply chain.
“We Won’t Rest Until Counterfeiting Is Reduced to Zero”
Dharmesh Mehta concluded his statement, saying, “We are proud of the progress we have made in preventing counterfeiting in the Amazon store. This required significant innovation and determination, and it would not have been possible without the partnerships we’ve established with brands, associations, policymakers, law enforcement, and others. We are committed to continued progress and will not rest until we reduce counterfeiting to zero.”