Bangalore, 24 April, 2025: In the bustling marketplace of India the rise of fraud and abuse is fast emerging as a cause for concern. As online shopping carts fill up, Amazon stands as a vigilant guardian, deploying cutting-edge strategies to protect its ecosystem.

“As a customer-centric company, we’re committed to fostering a safe and trusted shopping experience. We encourage our customers to actively participate in safeguarding their online shopping by remaining vigilant and adhering to recommended security practices” said Akshay Sahi, Director & Head of Amazon Prime, Speed & Fulfilment Experience, India. “Additionally, we also prioritize seller safety through multiple initiatives. For instance, by filing Safe-T claims, sellers can address delivery or payment issues efficiently, allowing Amazon to investigate and resolve the matter. Timely reporting helps avoid delays and ensures that the seller’s account remains protected.”

The Fraud Landscape: A Complex Web

With growth there has been a surge in challenges too. Fraudulent activities across social media, ecommerce, enterprise, and fintech platforms have significantly increased in the last few years in the country. A recent PwC India report revealed startling statistic of 57% incidents that are linked to these platform frauds. This fraud manifests in various forms driven by a small set of bad actors across the system:

• Seller-Related Challenges: Certain sellers may engage in deceptive practices on marketplace. These include shipping damaged items, or offering counterfeit merchandise. Such practices impact customer trust and marketplace integrity.
• Fulfilment Network Concerns : Often a small segment of the network associates that enables fulfilment of orders, might swap genuine products for fakes or manipulate delivery statuses. This is another prevailing issue in the industry that causes distress and anguish to the customers and ruins their online shopping experience.
• Customer Conundrums: There are multiple instances where a limited cohort of malicious customers have often abused the system in place taking advantage of the marketplace’s customer-friendly policies. For example, the return and refund policies are often misused. These further impacts sellers’ businesses and trust.

Amazon’s Shield: initiative to provide safe and trusted shopping environment

To ensure that customers have a safe and trusted shopping environment, Amazon has implemented initiatives across its marketplace, working together to enhance the customer shopping experience:

• Enhanced Security Measures: One-Time Password (OTP) verification is a highly secure method to ensure that deliveries reach the intended recipient. This step is particularly important for valuable, sensitive, or high-stakes deliveries.
• Rigorous Seller Account Verification: Amazon India deploys seller verification process to minimize fraud and ensure a trustworthy marketplace.
• Secured Packaging: Tamper-evident bags and Security Seals have unique package IDs. Amazon packs your items securely using these packaging solutions. The package ID is an alpha-numeric code that helps you to identify your order. If customers suspect tampering which is identifiable through the signs these packages display, they can reject a package at the time of delivery.
• Open Box Delivery: With Open Box Inspection, the delivery associates unpack customers’ ordered packages at the time of delivery for their inspection. They can verify the order to ensure the right products are delivered without any damages and have the required accessories enclosed.
• AI-Powered Vigilance: Advanced machine learning algorithms analyse system-wide data to detect suspicious patterns and identify potential fraudulent activities and prevent them.
• 24/7 Customer Support: With above controls, while the instances of such abuse and fraud have been drastically controlled, in exception cases if any customer faces such a situation, a dedicated team of customer service agents stands ready to assist, ensuring their shopping experience remains positive.

Your Role in the Fight Against Fraud

The customers  have an equally crucial role in maintaining the integrity of the e-commerce marketplaces. Here’s how you can contribute:

• Verify OTPs in person: Customers who have placed orders must receive their packages from the delivery associates themselves in person or have it collected through someone they trust. Also important to note is that OTPs should not be shared with unknown people or over the phone.
• Inspect packages for tampering: Once received, the package must be inspected for any issues with the packaging on the outside and a tampered parcel should be returned immediately at the time of delivery.
• Ensure proper pickup procedures during returns: For a successful return pickup, ensure the items and all accessories are returned in their original condition, including the brand and manufacturer box. The MRP tag should remain intact and the user manual, warranty cards and all the other documents provided with the item must be returned.
• Be wary of impersonators: Never share sensitive information and always verify the authenticity of offers by logging into your account on the official Amazon app or website only. Customers who use emails should look for the Amazon smile logo icon in their inbox when receiving an email from Amazon. This alertness can protect your personal and financial information.
• Report issues promptly to customer service: Provide clear details about the issue to the customer service, including order numbers and relevant pictures. Early reporting of issues ensures efficient and faster way to solve problems.

The Road Ahead

The battle against e-commerce fraud is ongoing, By staying informed and following best practices, you’re doing your part to keep online marketplaces safe and secure for all.

Happy (and safe) shopping!