Fake goods: Amazon sues social media influencers

Amazon has filed lawsuit against 13 individuals and businesses including two social media influencers for allegedly advertising promoting and facilitating the sale of counterfeit luxury goods in Amazons store in violation of the companys policies and the lawThe lawsuit was filed in the US District Court for the Western District of Washington and alleges the defendants operated in concert with each other to sell counterfeit products and engage in false advertising Amazon said on ThursdayAmong the 13 defendants the lawsuit alleged that Kelly Fitzpatrick and Sabrina KellyKrejci conspired with sellers to evade Amazons anticounterfeiting protections by promoting counterfeit products on Instagram and TikTok as well as their own websitesFitzpatrick and KellyKrejci posted sidebyside photos of a generic nonbranded product and a luxury counterfeit product with the text Order thisGet thisOrder this referred to the generic product falsely advertised on Amazon and Get this referred to the counterfeit luxury productBy posting only generic products on Amazon Fitzpatrick and KellyKrejci and the sellers they coordinated with attempted to evade Amazons anticounterfeit protections while using social media to promote the true nature of these counterfeit products Amazon saidFitzpatrick and KellyKrejci also posted numerous videos describing the alleged high quality of the counterfeits they promotedThese defendants were brazen about promoting counterfeits on social media and undermined the work of legitimate influencers Cristina Posa Associate General Counsel and Director Amazon Counterfeit Crimes Unit said in a statementThis case demonstrates the need for crossindustry collaboration in order to drive counterfeiters out of business Posa said adding that social media sites must vet monitor and take action on bad actors that are using their services to facilitate illegal behaviourFitzpatrick was previously a member of the Amazon Influencer Program but after Amazon detected her counterfeiting activities she was removed from the programShe continued to advertise counterfeits using social media sites and directed followers to her own websiteAmazon said it also detected and blocked KellyKrejcis scheme and she similarly began to direct her followers to purchase counterfeits on her own websiteSaying that it strictly prohibits counterfeit products in its stores Amazon said it invested more than 500 million in 2019 alone to protect customers and brands from fraud abuse and counterfeitKeep scrolling to read more newsCatch up on all the latest Crime National International and Hatke news here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updates MidDay is now on Telegram Click here to join our channel middayinfomedialtd and stay updated with the latest newsThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever