Amazon's Counterfeit Crimes Unit, launched in June 2020, is a global team of former federal prosecutors, investigators, and data analysts that pursues counterfeiters through civil lawsuits and criminal referrals to law enforcement. Since launch it has pursued more than 32,000 bad actors, its actions have produced over $300 million in court-ordered restitution, and more than 290 criminals have been incarcerated. It is the enforcement arm behind the takedown tools brands already use.
The Counterfeit Crimes Unit is a global team made up of former federal prosecutors, intelligence agents, police officers, investigators, and data analysts, all working in partnership with brands to investigate, find, and launch legal action and criminal referrals against counterfeiters. It works in two ways: civil proceedings together with brand manufacturers, and cooperation with local law enforcement agencies to arrest perpetrators.
It is not a takedown tool. Project Zero removes listings, Brand Registry gives brands the tools to find and report them, and Transparency verifies products as genuine. The CCU acts after the evidence exists, and its job is the people behind the listings, not the listings themselves. A brand that only files takedowns is playing defense. The CCU is the offense.
Since its launch in 2020, the CCU has pursued more than 32,000 bad actors through litigation and criminal referrals to law enforcement, and it has initiated over 200 civil actions against them. Its work has resulted in more than $300 million in court-ordered restitution and judgments for brands and victims, and more than 290 criminals have been incarcerated. Amazon's proactive controls blocked more than 99 percent of suspected infringing listings before a brand ever had to find and report them.
The product numbers are just as large. Amazon identified, seized, and appropriately disposed of more than 15 million counterfeit products worldwide in 2024, and again more than 15 million in 2025, and conducted more than 70 raids against counterfeit manufacturers, suppliers, and distributors with its partners in 2025. The unit has expanded from operating in 2 countries to 14, and its government agency partnerships have grown from 7 to more than 50, including Europol, the FBI, US Homeland Security Investigations, and the City of London Police.
Amazon and L'Oreal USA filed a joint lawsuit against bad actors who illegally marketed and sold counterfeit CeraVe-branded skincare products in Amazon's store. The CCU and Nintendo shared evidence with law enforcement, who executed a raid that seized counterfeit Nintendo gaming accessories, and the operator, who had run multiple fraudulent seller accounts since 2018, was arrested on felony charges of trademark counterfeiting.
Amazon worked with four Hollywood studios, Paramount, Universal, Warner Bros., and HBO, to secure a default judgment in federal court in Seattle against an international DVD counterfeiting ring, with more than $7.5 million in statutory damages and broad injunctive measures. And with Cisco, the CCU's criminal referrals dismantled two illegal counterfeit networks, with bad actors serving prison time and fines. The range runs from a single skincare listing to an international ring, and the CCU handles both.
A brand does not hire the CCU. It feeds it. The CCU acts on evidence built from Brand Registry reports, Amazon's own detection, and the test buys and evidence packs a brand already produces, so the quality of a brand's reports is the quality of the CCU's caseload. Strong reports with serial numbers, test buy evidence, and seller patterns are the input the unit works from.
The record is public, in Amazon's Brand Protection Report and its Trustworthy Shopping Experience Report, and it is worth reading before a brand decides enforcement is not worth the effort. A single takedown removes a listing. A CCU case removes the network, and the network is what relists the product the next morning under a different account.
Readers working through “Amazon's Counterfeit Crimes Unit: The Enforcement Arm Behind the Takedowns” often find these earlier guides useful as well: Amazon Transparency Codes: How a Code on Every Unit Stops Counterfeits, Reporting Counterfeits on Temu: The IP Portal, Step by Step, and Alibaba IPP Takedowns: Two Portals, One 3-Day Clock.
A global team launched in 2020 that sues counterfeiters and refers them to law enforcement, staffed by former federal prosecutors, investigators, and data analysts.
Project Zero removes listings. The CCU pursues the people behind them in court and with police. One is a tool, the other is enforcement.
Indirectly. The CCU acts on evidence from Brand Registry reports and Amazon's own detection, so strong reports with test buy evidence feed its caseload.
More than 32,000 bad actors since 2020, with over $300 million in court-ordered restitution and more than 290 criminals incarcerated.