New Delhi, Aug 21 (IANS) US-based e-commerce and technology giant Amazon is expanding the operations of its Counterfeit Crimes Unit (CCU) in India as it majorly steps up efforts to protect 1.7 million legitimate sellers and consumers from counterfeit products, CCU Director Kebharu Smith said on Friday.

In an interview with IANS, Smith said the unit -- which was launched in June 2020 -- is a global team with members in the, including India and has pursued more than 32,000 bad actors globally through civil litigation and criminal referrals to law enforcement agencies.

Smith also highlighted the scale of Amazon's seller ecosystem in the country. “Amazon today works with more than 1.7 million sellers in India and half of them are from tier two and tier three cities,” he said.

“Our mission is to take the fight to these bad actors,” Smith said.

The expansion of the CCU’s India operations is aimed at strengthening efforts on the ground and working more closely with local law-enforcement agencies, he said.

"We have ongoing investigations with the CBI here in India as well,” Smith told IANS.

The company said that in 2025, it helped identify, seize and appropriately dispose of more than 15 million counterfeit products globally. Amazon also conducted more than 70 raids against counterfeit manufacturers, suppliers and distributors with its partners during the year.

Globally, the CCU has pursued more than 32,000 bad actors since its launch, while Amazon said its legal actions have resulted in more than $300 million in court-ordered restitution and helped incarcerate more than 290 criminals.

In addition, Amazon's first global Trustworthy Shopping Experience Report -- released in April -- outlines the company's use of proactive controls, seller verification, brand-protection tools and enforcement partnerships to tackle such activity.

According to the company, more than 15,000 employees work on protecting customers from scams, fraud and abuse. It further noted that it proactively blocked more than 285 million suspected fake reviews worldwide in 2025.

With India's festive shopping season approaching, Smith said customer trust and product authenticity remain central to Amazon's strategy. “We understand that customer trust is hard to earn and easy to lose,” he said.

The company also said more than 2.7 billion product units have been verified as genuine through its transparency programme.

--IANS

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