Bag a bargain? – Amazon sues influencers for promoting "luxury" counterfeits

Bag a bargain? – Amazon sues influencers for promoting "luxury" counterfeits

Counterfeiters are circumventing online marketplaces’ anti-counterfeiting measures in various ways, including using fake or stolen addresses and hacking legitimate user accounts to sell fake goods. As the marketplaces develop their systems to identify counterfeit goods, sellers are becoming more creative in an attempt to continue their activities.
 
A recent case in the U.S. saw two social media influencers sued by Amazon for promoting counterfeit handbags and accessories which were falsely branded as luxury goods. The influencers posted brazen advertisements showing the genuine and counterfeit goods, and directed customers to a hidden link. The items at the link were genuine bags and accessories, so they could not be picked up by Amazon as fakes, but the purchaser would be sent the counterfeit ‘luxury’ item.
 
Here is the Instagram post by the influencers:
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And this is what the Amazon listing looked like:
amazon-AC.jpg

With the ever-increasing number of social media users, especially those using apps such as Instagram and Tik Tok which took off during lockdown, the platforms need to work together now more than ever to combat this collaborative counterfeiting.
 
Source: https://www.cnbc.com/2020/11/12/amazon-sues-influencers-for-allegedly-marketing-counterfeits.html.

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