More than a decade after entering India, Amazon is putting boots on the ground to tackle counterfeits.

For years, Amazon’s fight against counterfeit products in India largely happened behind the scenes, through automated systems, seller checks and brand complaints. Now, the e-commerce giant is putting people on the ground.

Amazon has expanded its global Counterfeit Crimes Unit (CCU) to India, setting up a three-member team in New Delhi earlier this year. The team comprises a senior corporate counsel and two risk managers and will work with agencies such as the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and Indian Customs, as well as brands, to pursue counterfeiters through civil and criminal enforcement.

The timing is significant. Amazon has been in India for more than a decade, but the company now sees the country not just as a large consumer market but as a growing manufacturing and export hub, with local businesses selling to customers globally.

“India is one of the world's marketplaces for commerce and exchange, manufacturing, and global exports,” Kebharu Smith, Global Director of Amazon’s Counterfeit Crimes Unit, told Business Today. “We want to ensure that we are taking the fight to bad actors who are trying to create and fabricate counterfeits here in India.”

The CCU was created globally in June 2020. Smith, who spent 12 years as a prosecutor with the US Department of Justice, including four years handling intellectual property infringement cases, said Amazon had investigations underway in India even before establishing a dedicated local team.

The unit’s playbook goes well beyond removing suspicious listings. Globally, Amazon says the CCU has pursued more than 32,000 alleged counterfeiters through civil and criminal actions, with more than 290 arrested and receiving jail time. In 2025 alone, Amazon identified, seized or disposed of more than 15 million counterfeit products globally.

But the first line of defence is increasingly artificial intelligence and automated detection. Amazon says it scans billions of listings on its store every day, and more than 99% of counterfeit product listings are removed before a brand even files an infringement notice.

Seller verification is another layer and then there is product-level authentication. Globally, more than 2.7 billion products have been authenticated using the tool, with over 80,000 brands participating.

Yet Amazon's India challenge is more complicated than simply policing big-name brands. The country's fragmented seller ecosystem includes thousands of smaller and local businesses, precisely the segment Amazon says it does not want enforcement to squeeze.

Smith said the CCU’s mandate will include protecting local, women-owned and MSME brands, including those in smaller cities. The team plans to work with law enforcement and brands not just in Delhi and Mumbai but across Tier-II and Tier-III markets.

For Amazon, the bigger shift is from marketplace moderation to criminal enforcement. “Law enforcement alone cannot solve it on their own. Brands can't solve it alone. And neither can e-commerce,” Smith said. “What's critical is the collaboration, the partnership, the data sharing, the ability to take the action and the fight to these bad actors.”

With India's festive shopping season approaching, that enforcement machinery is set to face one of its biggest tests, at a time when transaction volumes surge and the distinction between a legitimate discount and a suspiciously cheap product can become harder for consumers to spot.