Amazon Deletes Warnings And Negative Reviews, The Dangerous Products Remain

E-commerce giant called out on deceptive practices and dangerous products

May 2, 2019 - Los Angeles, CA – Amazon may command 50% of online sales, but the billion-dollar enterprise has a dark and deceptive core. Amazon is awash in fraudulent, fake, and replica product sales, scams, fake reviews and allegations of data leaks and employee bribes. While the deceptive practices thrive, Amazon continues to tell the media and policy-makers that it has "zero tolerance" for fakes, fraud, and bad actors. The statement is patently false.

Consumers are easily misled into throwing good money at fraudulent, fake and replica products that may be dangerous, even deadly. Consumers who rely on Amazon's product reviews for purchase decisions would be shocked to learn that many reviews are fake, unrelated to the listed product, and that Amazon removes negative product feedback and consumer warnings about dangerous and potentially deadly items.

The Counterfeit Report, an award-winning industry watchdog and consumer advocate, found and removed over 58,000 infringing items from Amazon's websites on behalf the brand owners and makes hundreds of test purchases to evaluate suspected products. The Counterfeit Report's test purchase accounts have been repeatedly blocked by Amazon, refund claims refused, and product feedback and warnings on product scams removed.

Amazon claims; "The sale of counterfeit products is strictly prohibited," but the truth is; Amazon is a direct seller of counterfeit, fraudulent and replica products, complaints are often ignored, fraudulent sellers remain, and the counterfeit, fraudulent and potentially deadly products are relisted.

Recent test purchase feedback, including feedback to warn consumers of dangerous and potentially deadly 18650 lithium-ion batteries and medical devices, was removed by Amazon. Amazon advised all feedback from The Counterfeit Report has been removed and further feedback blocked. Hardly an honest and ethical business practice to protect consumers. As proof;

It's hard to reconcile Amazon's actions with its statement in The Atlantic's exposé on Amazon's exploding batteries; "Safety is important to Amazon and we want customers to shop with confidence on our stores. Third-party sellers are required to comply with all relevant laws and regulations when listing items for sale in our stores. When sellers don’t comply with our terms, we work quickly to take action on behalf of customers". The Counterfeit Report found over 24,000 fraudulent 18650 batteries in just the past month, including Amazon as a direct seller. It's just more lip-service from Amazon who also confirmed "that 18650 batteries were indeed prohibited" while taking a transaction fee for each item sold, and facing no liability for the sales.

Buyers aren't the only potential victim of Amazon's deceptive practices and products. The use of Amazon fakes by someone else may injure you. The Counterfeit Report sent thousands of infringement notices on behalf of brand-owners for medical tourniquets that are known to catastrophically fail in actual life-saving emergencies, fake police badges, over-the-counter (OTC) drugs, and counterfeit automotive software and test equipment that controls vehicle braking, steering, emissions, safety equipment, and airbags. Test purchases from Amazon as a direct seller included replica medical tourniquets and inarguably fraudulent 18650 lithium-ion batteries. Many of the counterfeit and fraudulent items remain.

Shown: Real and replica Combat Application Tourniquet®, Fraudulent 18650 Li-ion Batteries, Fake Law Enforcement Badges, Real and Counterfeit Mongoose® Vehicle programming cable interface.

In response, Amazon Corporate Counsel Annasara Purcell stated Amazon counterfeit removals are jurisdiction specific -- Amazon may remove counterfeits in one country but leave them in others where they can be sold and shipped worldwide to deceived consumers. The Counterfeit Report did just that, purchasing counterfeits from U.S. sellers listing overseas and shipping to the U.S. from China. That's OK with Amazon -- who still gets its transaction fee.

Amazon's deceptive practices and products beg the question and investigation; Is Amazon America's Biggest Consumer Fraud?

Consumers only choice is to avoid businesses that enable, facilitate, or participate directly as global criminal enterprises.