California, Europe Brief News – Facebook is struggling to counter imposters from selling fake luxury goods over its social media apps.
The fake luxury products are usually represented by well-known brands like Gucci, Chanel and lactose.
Facebook platforms are becoming hotspots for such imposters who take advantage of its private messaging feature to get to the customers.
Benedict Hamilton, a managing director at Kroll said “Facebook and Instagram are the prominent marketplaces where counterfeit goods get sold to people, It used to be eBay 10 years ago and amazon 5 years ago”
The study conducted in June-Oct in 2021 showed that more than 26,000 imposter’s accounts are being operated on Facebook.
However, the number of forefeiter’s active accounts on Instagram is around 20,000. Also, the study showed in 2021 that 65% of the accounts were China based.
E-commerce is becoming a top priority for Meta as it is adding new dynamic shopping features to increase its revenue. Meta is facing a number of challenges whether it’s ads tracking changes or sputtering user growth.
Instagram mentioned that top brands like Versace and Dior have acquired their shopping feature for the selling of their goods. But imposters are using its platform to sell fake products becoming a challenge for the company to deal with.
A meta company spokesperson said, “The sale of counterfeits and fraud is a problem that has always persisted with new technology. We are getting improved every day at shopping these sales and cracking down on fraudsters”.
Confronting with Imposters
Meta is continuously strategizing to Crackdown fraudsters to make E-commerce a reliable place to shop and sell.
Its legal director, Mark Fiore said “As E-commerce has become a strategic priority for the company and as we have been building new shopping experiences, we have recognized that we want to make sure those experiences are safe and trusted for brands and the users”
The company has added an update tool for brands to search and report imposters in posts, ads or e-commerce features.
Meta also added that they usually respond to such reports within 24 hours. They are being super active about this issue.
In the latest reports, Company claimed to eliminate 1.2 million pieces of counterfeit Facebook content and about 3 million on Instagram.
