Amazon, Cartier sue counterfeiters for selling fake luxury goods on Instagram

SAN FRANCISCO: Amazon and luxury jewellery brand Cartier have filed lawsuits against a social media influencer and eight businesses for advertising, promoting and facilitating the sale of counterfeit luxury goods through Instagram and other websites.

The lawsuits were filed in the US District Court for the Western District of Washington, alleging that the "defendants colluded with each other to sell counterfeit products and engage in false advertising".

"By using social media to promote counterfeit products, bad actors undermine trust and mislead customers," said Kebharu Smith, associate general counsel and director of the Amazon Counterfeit Crimes Unit (CCU).

"Amazon will keep investing and innovating to stay ahead of counterfeiters, and working with brands and law enforcement to hold bad actors accountable," Smith said in a statement.

Among the nine defendants, the lawsuits allege that a social media influencer conspired with bad actors to attempt to circumvent Amazon's anti-counterfeiting detection tools by promoting counterfeit luxury products, including fake Cartier bracelets, necklaces, and rings, on Instagram as well as their own websites. The criminals openly posted photos of counterfeit Cartier jewellery, with a description of the infringing product on Instagram, but on Amazon and other websites, they created product detail pages for generic products with no indication of infringement. (IANS)

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