Amazon deploys Counterfeit Crimes Unit team in India ahead of festive season
Amazon has placed a three-member Counterfeit Crimes Unit team in India to work with the CBI, customs, brands and enforcement agencies on civil and criminal action against alleged sellers of fake products.
What happened
Amazon has deployed a three-member Counterfeit Crimes Unit in India to work with CBI, customs, brands and agencies on civil and criminal action against
Key facts
- 3-member Counterfeit Crimes Unit team in New Delhi
- 32,000+ alleged counterfeit sellers targeted globally since June 2020
- 15 million+ counterfeit products identified, seized or destroyed globally in 2025
- 99%+ counterfeit listings removed before brand complaints
Why this matters
Amazon’s coordination with CBI, customs and brands strengthens its ecosystem moat in India and could make anti-counterfeiting capabilities a more important partnership and acquisition priority.
What to watch
- CBI, customs or state-police announcements of raids, seizures, arrests or FIRs tied to Amazon marketplace sellers.
- The number and scale of Amazon India seller suspensions, listing removals and brand-protection complaints during the festive sales period.
- New onboarding or documentation rules for sellers in categories with elevated counterfeit risk.
- Brand announcements of expanded official storefronts, direct retail partnerships or previously withheld assortment moving onto Amazon India.
- Seller-community reports of false-positive takedowns, appeal backlogs or migration toward alternative channels.
- Any Indian regulatory scrutiny over marketplace liability, seller traceability or platform cooperation with enforcement agencies.
- Expand the India-based Counterfeit Crimes Unit beyond three staff if festive-season cases generate actionable leads or successful prosecutions.
- Increase brand-gating, invoice verification, serial-number checks and proactive removal of suspect listings in high-risk categories.
- Pursue coordinated customs intercepts targeting import routes, warehouses and repeat seller networks rather than individual listings alone.
- Publicize seizures, civil claims or criminal filings to deter sellers and strengthen Amazon's trust-and-safety positioning with brands.
- Offer more direct reporting, test-buy and evidence-sharing tools to Indian trademark owners and authorized distributors.