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Amazon blocked 800,000 fraudulent selling accounts in 2022

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Amazon used machine learning-based detection to block 800000 fraudulent selling accounts

Amazon prevented over 800,000 bad actors from opening new selling accounts last year, the company has revealed.

This brought the total number down from six million in 2020, or more than 50 percent year on year.

The company spent more than $1.2 billion on technology and experts in 2022, employing over 15,000 people to combat fraud, including machine learning scientists, software developers, and expert investigators.

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The work means Amazon has sued or referred over 1,300 criminals for inquiry in the United States, the United Kingdom, the European Union, and China, up from 600 in 2021.

Amazon's seller verification procedure needs its partners to provide a government-issued photo ID, taxpayer information, and information about their name, location, bank accounts, credit cards, and other details.

The collected data is then analysed by the systems in order to identify risk and create relationships with previously identified bad actors.

The company's automated technology scans over eight billion listings per day and uses the information to better its counterfeit prevention technology.

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Customer complaints are also used to improve the detection procedure.

Detective Sergeant Andrew Masterson, from the Police Intellectual Property Crime Unit (PIPCU) at the City of London Police, said: “It’s great to see Amazon respond to the threat of counterfeiting and take action against illegitimate sellers, including by supporting us to seize £170,000 worth of suspected counterfeit CDs during raids last year,”.

The firm also recognized, seized and suitably disposed of over six million counterfeit products in 2022 thanks to its ongoing cooperation with law enforcement.

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Amazon said in a report “Through our continued investment in advanced machine learning techniques, we have improved our proactive controls, automating and scaling our intellectual property protection and counterfeit detection systems,”.

“These systems operate continuously throughout every step of the process—from the moment someone tries to register a new selling account, create a listing, and update a product listing. This includes incorporating the feedback we get from customers, brands, and others.”

In 2022, the number of valid complaints of infringement fell 35 percent from the previous year.

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The final goal, according to Dharmesh Mehta, Amazon's Vice President of Worldwide Selling Partner Services, is to eliminate counterfeits entirely.

He said: “We take pride in the progress our organization has made this past year, specifically further evolving our technology to stay ahead of bad actors and doubling down on our criminal referral and litigation efforts.

“We’re appreciative of the growing industry-wide collaboration in this space, and look forward to continuing to innovate and work together to drive counterfeits to zero.”

The company's collaboration with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) enabled it to identify over 5,000 false brands and prohibit them from joining Amazon Brand Registry.

Amazon stated earlier this month that it would begin flagging commonly returned items in an effort to help shoppers make more informed purchasing decisions and reduce returns.

SourceCharged Retail

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