Amazon Files Lawsuit Against Two Influencers for Peddling Fake Products
Author By Sophia VidaPosted on E-commerce giant Amazon is suing two influencers for peddling counterfeit goods on social media sites TikTok and Instagram.
The company filed a lawsuit on Thrusday against the two influencers and nearly a dozen third-party merchants for allegedly advertising, promoting and facilitating the sale of counterfeit goods such as knockoff Gucci belts.
According to the lawsuit, the sellers and the influencers worked together in order to bypass Amazon’s anti-counterfeit tools by promoting the fake goods via their Instagram and TikTok accounts.
Amazon has accused Kelly Fitzpatrick and Sabrina Kelly-Krejci of using Instagram, Facebook and TikTok accounts, as well as their personal websites, to promote counterfeit products being sold
on Amazon.
The suit was filed in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington and also names 11 individuals and businesses based in the U.S. and China that allegedly listed the counterfeit products on Amazon.
According to the complaint, it was at the beginning of last November, the sellers and influencers fueled purchases of knockoff purses, bags, belts and wallets, which were falsely branded as luxury goods from the likes of Gucci and Dior.
Fitzpatrick was previously a member of the Amazon Associates program where members can advertise and link to Amazon products in exchange for a percentage of the sales. Amazon removed Fitzpatrick from the program after it discovered she was advertising counterfeits, the company says.
Fitzpatrick and Kelly-Krejci continued to promote the Amazon listings on their social media accounts and websites via photos and videos instead. They then directed consumers to purchase them using a “hidden link.” The “hidden link” referred to an Amazon listing, run by a seller in on the scheme, for a non-infringing, generic item.
Fitzpatrick and Kelly-Krejci declined to comment on the lawsuit.
Disclaimer: We have no position in any of the companies mentioned and have not been compensated for this article.
