Counterfeit Products Get "Amazon's Choice" Endorsement

Amazon endorses counterfeit and fraudulent products.

August 5, 2020 - Los Angeles, CA – Amazon offers consumers strong incentives and assurances that Amazon is "finding products to fit your needs" and includes its coveted "Amazon's Choice" product endorsement banner for selected Amazon listings. Consumers who believe the products are authentic, quality items may be in for a big surprise -- the endorsement is a sham, and the product may be fraudulent or counterfeit.

The Counterfeit Report, a global award-winning consumer advocate and industry watchdog, found dozens of Amazon listings for counterfeit and fraudulent products featuring the "Amazon's Choice" banner.

Dharmesh M. Mehta, Amazon's Vice President of Worldwide Customer Trust, removes all doubt with his congressional testimony; "Amazon does not manually curate products. There is no unique safety testing for the "Amazon's Choice" products. There is no unique screening for authenticity to receive that badge," states Mehta.

For example, the batteries shown in the listing below and sold directly by Amazon are fraudulent and have a fire and explosion risk. There is no legitimate 18650 Lithium-ion ("Li-ion") battery cell with a capacity higher than 3800mAh. All 9800mAh 18650 batteries are a fraud. In fact, Amazon prohibits the sale of ALL individual 18650 battery cells on its websites. However, the phony and dangerous items are common on Amazon, sold by both Amazon as a direct seller and marketplace sellers, and fulfilled by Amazon warehouses.

Amazon is no longer a safe shopping choice for consumers. Amazon is a cesspool of counterfeits, replicas, and scams revealed by a U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) counterfeit investigation, an FTC review, anti-trust investigations by Congress and the EU, allegations of bribes to employees, fake product reviews, phony endorsements, and data hacking.

Through huge legal loopholes and virtually immune to prosecution, IP laws, and safety standards, Amazon continues to enable and facilitate criminal activity, crushing manufacturers, deceiving consumers, and destroying jobs and public trust. Amazon is indifferent to the damage they cause, yet reaps enormous profits, but paid no federal income tax on $11.2 billion in profit in 2018 and a 1.2% tax rate on $13.3 billion profit in 2019.

Consumers have the choice to shop the major retailers (Kroger, Costco, Home Depot, Target, Lowes, Best Buy, etc.) who offer consumers competitive local and online purchase options with prompt delivery.