A new federal indictment has shed light on corrupt practices between Amazon vendors and Amazon employees.
The scheme allegedly involved Amazon employees being bribed to reinstate products.
“The six people charged—including two former Amazon workers—allegedly bribed Amazon employees to reinstate sales of products that were deemed substandard or dangerous, such as suspect dietary supplements and inflammable household electronics.
In addition, the defendants allegedly paid to have competitors accounts suspended.
“The alleged conspirators also worked to attack clients’ competitors by using inside access to suspend accounts and share proprietary details about Amazon’s algorithms for listings, the U.S. attorney’s office said.”
The conspiracy allegedly unfolded as the group used insider information to contact and recruit Amazon employees and contractors who would take bribes in exchange for manipulating accounts on Amazon Marketplace, according to the U.S. attorney’s office. In exchange for bribes, Amazon insiders provided the group access to proprietary Amazon data, which they used to the advantage of their third-party seller clients. In some cases, the defendants gained credentialed access to the company’s systems even though they didn’t work for Amazon, prosecutors said.”