Counterfeit goods' organisations use the same algorithms and tools to gauge consumer preferences and influence their buying behaviour.
As the smartphone population and internet penetration around the world grows, criminals are using the same platforms and technology offered by social media and e-commerce giants to sell counterfeit goods, a post on the World Economic Forum (WEF) said.
According to a post contributed to WEF by Andrea Stroppa, Facebook, Amazon, Google, Alibaba and Instagram, are used by counterfeit organisations "to better provide a safer, more efficient and more profitable 'user experience'."
While nearly 74% “salespeople” use Instant Message chat apps and 75% offer at least two contact methods, most of these vendors are based in China, Russia, Malaysia, Indonesia and Ukraine
The most affected brands are Chanel, Prada, Louis Vuitton and Fendi, along with Rolex and Cartier for luxury watches.
All social media and e-commerce companies use various algorithms to recognise consumer behaviour and preferences based on the content that they share, like or repeatedly follow not just on their websites but across the internet. According to this, advertisements of the similar, and sometimes the same product then appear in the news feeds of these consumers to influence their buying behaviour.
"Counterfeit criminals are using the same common and widespread tools provided by these companies to attract consumers... and to transfer money into the open," the post said.
For example, on Instagram, "they deploy advanced techniques (botnets, algorithms, etc) to constantly flood the platform with ads and offerings about a wide range of counterfeit goods," it notes.
An investigation revealed 20,000 Instagram accounts that posted 14 million photos of counterfeit goods. The post says, nearly 20% of the Instagram posts related to fashion brands, feature illicit and counterfeit goods.
Counterfeit trade accounts for nearly half a trillion dollars in global trade a year, most of which is used to fund organised crime, terrorism and dictatorships around the world.
Depsite the widespead use of technology and these social media giants to sell their illicit wares, both, the companies and various governments have done little to clamp down on the trade.
The post notes, in 2015, Google and WeChat blocked only 18,000 and 7,000 suspicious accounts.
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