New Delhi, August 21, 2026 (Yes Punjab News)
Amazon is expanding the operations of its Counterfeit Crimes Unit (CCU) in India to strengthen efforts against counterfeit products and protect the company’s 1.7 million sellers and consumers in the country, CCU Director Kebharu Smith said on Friday.
In an interview with IANS, Smith said the CCU, launched in June 2020, is a global team with operations including in India and has pursued more than 32,000 alleged counterfeiters and other offenders worldwide through civil litigation and criminal referrals to law-enforcement agencies.
Highlighting the scale of Amazon’s seller network in India, Smith said the company works with more than 1.7 million sellers in the country, with half of them based in Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities.
“Our mission is to take the fight to these bad actors,” Smith said.
He said the expansion of the CCU’s operations in India would strengthen on-ground enforcement and facilitate closer coordination with local law-enforcement agencies.
“We have ongoing investigations with the CBI here in India as well,” Smith said.
Amazon said that during 2025, it helped identify, seize and appropriately dispose of more than 15 million counterfeit products globally. During the same period, the company and its partners conducted more than 70 raids targeting counterfeit manufacturers, suppliers and distributors.
Since its launch, the CCU has pursued more than 32,000 alleged offenders globally. Amazon said its legal actions have resulted in more than $300 million in court-ordered restitution and contributed to the incarceration of more than 290 criminals.
The company’s first global Trustworthy Shopping Experience Report, released in April, details its measures to combat counterfeiting and other forms of abuse. These include proactive controls, seller verification, brand-protection tools and partnerships for enforcement.
Amazon said more than 15,000 employees globally are involved in protecting customers from scams, fraud and abuse. It also said its systems proactively blocked more than 285 million suspected fake reviews worldwide in 2025.
With India’s festive shopping season approaching, Smith said maintaining customer confidence and ensuring product authenticity remained key priorities for Amazon.
“We understand that customer trust is hard to earn and easy to lose,” he said.
Amazon also said more than 2.7 billion product units have been verified as genuine through its Transparency programme.
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