Amazon (AMZN.O) announced Thursday that its Anti-Counterfeiting Exchange (ACX) would let retail shops label and track marketplace counterfeits as part of its attempts to combat organized crime on its platform.
U.S. online marketplaces like Amazon struggle to keep counterfeiters and counterfeit goods out. The new tool replicates credit card data exchange platforms to identify crooks and their methods.
Stores and Amazon marketplace merchants can anonymously report counterfeiters to a third-party database or avoid them.
“We think it is critical to share information about confirmed counterfeiters to help the entire industry stop these criminals earlier,” Amazon’s vice president of selling partner services, Dharmesh Mehta, said.
In 2021, the Seattle-based retailer trialed the anti-counterfeiting project with an undisclosed number of clothes, home goods, and cosmetics businesses where counterfeiting is most prevalent.
Amazon is also collaborating with the U.S. Customs and Border Protection on a data pilot to identify and target low-value e-commerce shipments that may be counterfeit or violate other laws.