Product Counterfeiting

I was involved with a number of product counterfeiting analysis and detection projects for CPG products.   Often working with retailers.   Its much more common globally than you think, even with relatively common home CPG goods.   Not surprising that Amazon is involved given the number of SKUs they handle.

Amazon faces criticism for being 'complicit' with counterfeiters
"The reputation you've built goes down the toilet," says Elevation Lab's founder.

By Steve Dent, @stevetdent in Engadget

Amazon pledged to tackle counterfeiting in 2017, but its lax policies are still hurting inventors and small companies, one supplier says. In a blog post, Elevation Lab founder Casey Hopkins wrote that a Chinese manufacturer ripped off its popular under-desk headphone stand, "The Anchor" and is selling it cheap on Amazon and taking all its sales. Worse, he claims that Amazon is effectively abetting such counterfeiters and could do away with it via a simple change

According to Hopkins, the counterfeit seller "literally reverse engineered it, made steel compression molds, made the logo wrong, used fake 3M adhesive that's very thin and was die-cut smaller than the top, they used a lower durometer silicone so it flexes more, it has huge mold parting lines, and the packaging is literally photocopied then reprinted (you can tell by the lack of image contrast)."  ... '