How to Fight Hijackers and Counterfeits on Amazon?

TL;DR

• Hijackers and counterfeiters sell unauthorized or fake products on your Amazon listings, damaging sales and brand reputation.

• Enroll in Amazon Brand Registry and use tools like report a violation to quickly remove unauthorized sellers.

• Participate in the Transparency Program to verify authentic products with unique codes and prevent counterfeits.

• Use Amazon Project Zero for self-service counterfeit removal and enhanced automated protection.

• Report hijackers promptly with evidence, including purchasing suspect products and filing infringement claims.

• Strengthen your brand by adding clear logos and unique packaging to fight with hijackers and build customer trust.

You built your Amazon brand with care, don’t let hijackers and counterfeiters tear it down overnight.

For many sellers on Amazon, the biggest threat isn’t competition—it’s unauthorized sellers who jump onto listings with fake or inferior products. These bad actors can undercut your price, steal your Buy Box, and damage your brand’s reputation, often before you even realize what’s happening.

Hijackers and counterfeiters not only cut into your sales but also impact customer trust. Shoppers who receive poor-quality knock offs may leave negative reviews or stop buying from you altogether, thinking they’ve experienced your actual product. Protecting your listings isn’t optional, it’s essential for long-term growth and brand integrity.

This guide explains what hijackers do, how to spot early warning signs, and what actions you can take to defend your Amazon business. Whether you're a new seller or scaling fast, taking the right prevention steps can help protect a brand on Amazon, save it from lasting damage, and keep you in control of your success.

What hijackers and counterfeiters do on Amazon?

Hijackers and counterfeiters are a growing concern for U.S. sellers, especially those who have invested time and resources into building a trusted brand. These bad actors exploit successful listings by selling unauthorized or fake versions of your product, often at a lower price.

Their aim is straightforward: they exploit your hard-earned reputation to quickly turn a profit. Hijackers typically list their own inventory under your ASIN (product identifier) without permission. They may use lower-quality materials or entirely different products, but claim it's the same item.

In doing so, they can win the Buy Box by undercutting your price, leading customers to unknowingly purchase from them instead of you. Counterfeiters take it a step further by replicating your product, packaging, and branding, often poorly. These fakes damage your brand’s credibility, generate negative reviews, and increase return rates, all of which hurt your organic ranking and long-term sales potential.

For Amazon U.S. sellers, this isn’t just a sales issue it’s a brand protection issue. These unauthorized sellers confuse customers, steal revenue, and compromise the integrity of your listings. Understanding how they operate is the first step to putting strong safeguards in place, using strategies like an Amazon hijacker removal service, to protect your business and maintain customer trust.

What happens when someone hijacks your listing?

When someone hijacks your Amazon listing, the impact on your business can be immediate and damaging, especially for U.S. sellers working hard to build a reputable brand.

A listing hijack typically occurs when another seller, often unauthorized, starts selling a counterfeit or low-quality version of your product on your existing listing. Because Amazon allows multiple sellers to list on the same ASIN, hijackers can easily attach themselves to your product page and even win the Buy Box by offering lower prices, regardless of quality. This has several serious consequences.

• First, your sales drop. Customers may unknowingly purchase from the hijacker, thinking they’re buying your genuine product. Since the hijacker likely offers an inferior product, buyers receive poor-quality items, leading to complaints, returns, and negative reviews.

• Those negative reviews then harm your product’s rating even though the counterfeit wasn’t yours. This erodes customer trust, damages your brand image, and makes it harder to compete long-term. You may also face increased return rates, listing suppressions, or account performance issues triggered by complaints about authenticity.

Additionally, hijackers often engage in aggressive tactics, such as listing under fake business names, using overseas fulfillment, or undercutting you on price to control the Buy Box. This not only affects revenue but can make your legitimate product look overpriced or untrustworthy.
For U.S. Amazon sellers, protecting your listing isn’t just about sales—it’s about preserving your brand’s credibility and maintaining customer trust in a highly competitive marketplace. Using tools like Amazon counterfeit protection can further safeguard your brand from unauthorized sellers and fake products.

How to protect your Amazon listing and prevent hijackers

1. Enroll in Amazon Brand Registry

One of the most effective ways to protect your Amazon listing from hijackers is by enrolling in Amazon Brand Registry. For U.S. sellers serious about long-term success, this program offers essential tools to secure your listings and maintain control over your brand’s presence.

Amazon Brand Registry helps sellers by giving them official brand ownership status on Amazon. This means you can manage your content, prevent unauthorized edits, and take quick action if a hijacker tries to attach to your listing.

With access to tools like Report a Violation, you can easily flag and remove unauthorized sellers or counterfeit products. It also becomes easier to enforce your intellectual property rights and ensure only approved sellers represent your brand.

In addition to protection, Amazon Brand Registry helps enhance your marketing and sales potential. You gain access to A+ Content, Sponsored Brands, and Brand Analytics—features that allow you to present your brand professionally while gaining valuable performance insights.

In short, Amazon Brand Registry helps you protect your listings, safeguard customer trust, and build a stronger brand on Amazon.com. It’s not just a layer of defense—it’s a smart, strategic step for sustainable growth.

2. Use Transparency Programs

One of the most effective ways to protect your Amazon listings from hijackers and counterfeiters is by enrolling in the Amazon Transparency Program. This program is designed to help U.S. sellers safeguard their brand by ensuring that only authentic, verified products reach customers.

Transparency works by assigning a unique, scannable 2D code to each unit of your product. Amazon then uses these codes to verify product authenticity before any order is shipped—whether it’s fulfilled by Amazon (FBA) or directly by you as a seller.

If a unit doesn’t have a valid Transparency code, Amazon will not ship it, effectively blocking counterfeit or unauthorized products from reaching your buyers. Beyond protecting your listings, the Transparency Program also helps improve customer trust and engagement.

Shoppers can scan the Transparency code using the Amazon app to verify that they’ve received a genuine product. This added layer of confidence builds stronger brand loyalty and reduces the risk of negative reviews caused by counterfeit goods.

Why to choose?

The above statistics clearly show that the role of the Transparency Program provides valuable insights into your supply chain, allowing you to track where each unit has been distributed and identify any gaps or issues early.

In short, Transparency is more than just protection—it’s a proactive step toward long-term brand integrity and customer satisfaction on Amazon.

3. Use the Amazon Project Zero Program

Amazon’s Project Zero empowers brands to take control of their intellectual property and proactively eliminate counterfeit listings from the Amazon marketplace. By combining your brand expertise with Amazon’s advanced anti-counterfeiting technology, Project Zero helps drive counterfeits to zero.

One of the key features of Project Zero is the self-service counterfeit removal tool. This allows enrolled brands to directly search for and remove fake listings from Amazon stores—instantly and without needing to contact Amazon support. It's a fast, powerful way to protect your brand and customers.

Every time you remove a counterfeit using this tool, it also improves Amazon’s automated protections. These systems learn from your removals and begin blocking potential counterfeits proactively—before they ever go live or reach a customer.

When combined with Transparency, Amazon’s product serialization program, the protection becomes even stronger. Transparency uses unique scannable codes to ensure that only genuine units are listed and shipped, adding another layer of defense.

Together, Project Zero and Transparency offer a comprehensive approach to counterfeit prevention, giving Amazon U.S. sellers the tools to protect their brand, maintain customer trust, and ensure a safer, more reliable shopping experience.

Why choose?

4. Report hijackers and file infringement claims

Dealing with a hijacker on your Amazon listing? Reporting them quickly and filing the right claims is one of the most effective ways to protect your brand and stop further damage.

If you’ve confirmed that an unauthorized seller is attached to your listing, especially if they’re selling counterfeit or inferior versions of your product, it’s important to take action immediately.

• Confirm the hijack: Before reporting, make sure the seller is unauthorized. Check if they are offering a counterfeit or low-quality version of your product.

• Buy the product as proof: Purchase the item from the suspected hijacker. Document differences in packaging, quality, and branding to prove it’s not your product.

• Gather evidence: Take clear photos and keep all order details, including invoices and shipping info, to support your claim.

• Use Amazon’s Report a Violation tool: If you’re enrolled in Brand Registry, log in and file a claim through the Report a Violation dashboard for faster action.

• File an infringement claim: Submit a detailed complaint outlining the trademark or copyright violation. Attach all supporting evidence.

• Report through Seller Support (if not in Brand Registry): You can still report hijackers using the general “Report Infringement” form on Amazon’s website.

• Send a cease-and-desist letter: If the hijacker doesn’t remove their offer, send a formal warning to demand they stop using your listing.

• Consult a legal expert if needed: For ongoing or serious hijacking issues, work with an IP attorney to protect your brand rights and escalate the matter legally.

• Act fast: Quick action prevents further loss of sales, customer trust, and damage to your product’s reviews and rankings.

5. Add clear branding to your product and packaging to deter hijackers

One of the most effective ways to protect your Amazon listing from hijackers is by adding strong, visible branding to both your product and its packaging. While enrolling in the Amazon Brand Registry offers essential tools, your physical product should also clearly reflect your brand identity.

Start by placing your logo directly on the product whenever possible. Whether it’s engraved, printed, or labeled, a visible logo helps customers recognize your brand and makes it harder for counterfeiters to replicate your item. Similarly, your product packaging should include your brand name, logo, website, and any unique design elements that set you apart.

This not only deters hijackers who typically go after generic-looking products but also builds trust with customers. When buyers receive a well-branded product, they’re more confident they’ve received the real deal, which reduces return rates and negative reviews.

Additionally, professional branding helps you gather evidence in case you need to file an infringement complaint. It proves that the hijacker is not offering the same product and strengthens your case with Amazon’s support team.

For Amazon U.S. sellers, investing in product and packaging branding is a proactive way to protect your listings, establish credibility, and give customers a consistent and trustworthy buying experience.

Ready to protect your brand and scale without fear?

Protecting your Amazon brand from hijackers and counterfeiters is essential for long-term success—especially in a competitive U.S. marketplace. From enrolling in Amazon Brand Registry and Transparency to monitoring listings, filing Amazon IP complaints, and taking swift action against unauthorized sellers, every step you take reinforces your credibility and customer trust.

Don’t wait until damage is done. Establishing proactive safeguards like clear branding, smart packaging, and regular listing audits can save you time, money, and reputation. And when things get complex, working with an experienced Amazon consultant can help you navigate enforcement processes, streamline protections, and grow confidently.

Get expert support to secure your listings and focus on what matters most building a trusted, profitable business on Amazon.com.