Amazon ramps up its fight against fakes with help from AI and law enforcement

Amazon says it seized more than 15 million counterfeit products in 2024 — more than double the prior year — as part of a growing effort to intercept fake goods before they reach customers.

The company says it’s expanding its use of AI behind the scenes, while also working with law enforcement to go after key sites around the world where counterfeits are fabricated and distributed.

“We’re seizing more products before they reach our store due to our efforts to stop counterfeit products at the source,” said Kebharu Smith, director of Amazon’s Counterfeit Crimes Unit, a former federal and state prosecutor who joined the tech giant in 2020 to help fight fraudulent goods.

For example, Amazon says it worked with Chinese law enforcement on cases that led to more than 60 raids in 2024. More than 100 suspected counterfeiters were detained, and several were convicted.

Those are some of the details from Amazon’s new Brand Protection Report, released Tuesday night. It’s the latest effort by the company to address longstanding criticism that it hasn’t done enough to keep counterfeit goods from being sold on Amazon.com.

Among other things, Amazon says it’s using AI to fight fakes in a variety of ways: 

• AI scans billions of attempted changes to product listings each day to identify counterfeit products and detect infringing content.
• Amazon’s computer vision technology scans product images and logos to help identify knock-offs.
• The company uses multi-modal large language models to analyze images, text, and pricing patterns on product listings. This can sniff out “even subtle manipulations designed to evade detection.”
• AI analyzes behind-the-scenes data such as shared IP addresses, banking info, and account activity, looking for criminal networks. 
• AI and automation are also used in seller vetting, including ID verification tools that detect forged documents and suspicious account behavior during the onboarding process.

Amazon has faced years of scrutiny from brands, regulators, and consumer advocates over its approach to counterfeit products.

• In the past, companies including Nike, PopSockets, and Birkenstock have pulled products or partnerships over concerns about fakes.
• Apple once revealed that 90% of “genuine” chargers it purchased from Amazon were counterfeit.
• Some brands have accused Amazon in the past of profiting from fake goods, while dragging its feet on enforcement.

Amazon spends more than $1 billion annually to fight counterfeits, and points to signs of progress on a variety of fronts.

• Amazon says its systems now block more than 99% of fraudulent product listings before brands need to report them.
• Amazon’s Project Zero initiative offers automated counterfeit detection and other tools to fight fake products. It has been used by more than 35,000 brands.
• Its Transparency program has verified more than 2.5 billion product units using unique serialization codes. The company says 88,000 brands are enrolled. 
• Amazon has pursued more than 24,000 “bad actors” through civil litigation and criminal referrals since starting its Counterfeit Crimes Unit in 2020.

“Counterfeiting is one of the oldest crimes on the books, and it’s a huge problem across the entire retail industry,” Smith said.

He said Amazon is “doing what we can to make sure we’re protecting these brands, policing our store, going after these bad actors aggressively, and educating and protecting our customers.”

Read the Amazon report here.