eBay Faces Federal Racketeering (RICO) Lawsuit
Legal and Ethical Issues Highlighted After 2-Year Investigation
August 20, 2015, Los Angeles, CA -- A civil Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) lawsuit against eBay® and PayPal® was filed in Federal Court claiming eBay knowingly and deliberately facilitates, proliferates and profits from the ongoing sale of counterfeit and fake products on its website.
RICO allegations in the landmark case identify ongoing practices by the $18 billion e-commerce giant in aiding and profiting from the $1.7 trillion global counterfeit product industry. The sale of counterfeit products infringe on U.S. Trademarks, threaten the health and safety of consumers, and damage the economy. The infringing products and activity tarnish manufacturer’s reputations, damage brands, destroy U.S. jobs and dupe unsuspecting consumers.
Research by The Counterfeit Report®, a popular anti-counterfeiting advocate, provides details and insight into eBay’s ecosystem to advertise, list, manipulate, sell, finance, ship and encourage the sale counterfeit and fake products.
During a two-year investigation, over 1,000 various counterfeit products were received by The Counterfeit Report® from eBay sellers, but complaints fell on deaf ears. The sellers and many of the products remained on eBay, and sales continued to unsuspecting eBay consumers.
The counterfeit product test purchases from eBay sellers disclosed counterfeit sales to hundreds-of-thousands of duped eBay buyers who often never know they received a fake product and are entitled to an eBay refund. These sales have been a lucrative revenue source for the e-commerce giant, as transaction fees are charged for each sale of fake goods.
Even more shocking is that The Counterfeit Report® actually received website and email notifications from eBay, as do consumers, encouraging the purchase of reported known counterfeit and fake products.
If consumers identify the counterfeits, eBay directs consumers to mail them back to the seller as a condition for a refund, a violation of both U.S. Postal Regulations and Federal Law. The returned counterfeits are easily recycled, re-listed and re-sold to unsuspecting consumers. Additionally, buyers lose their only evidence of receiving a counterfeit.
The e-commerce giants, including eBay, Amazon and Alibaba should expect civil, criminal and legislative consequences when they fail to police their own websites and protect the consumer community.
Could you spot these actual counterfeit products purchased on eBay?
Counterfeits shown: Chanel No. 5 EDP, SanDisk 64GB micro SDHC memory card, unreleased Lunatik Epik Apple iWatch Case, Lunatik TakTik Extreme iPhone case, Monster Tron T1 headphones, and Group-A Autosports lower automobile suspension control arms. (photo: The Counterfeit Report)
For information regarding the lawsuit;
Contact: The R. Rex Parris Law Firm
Dante Hickles (661) 949-2595 or dhickles@rrexparris.com
A copy of the complaint, Case 8:15-cv-01330, can be downloaded here
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