Business
How to avoid buying fakes on Walmart, Amazon and other online marketplaces
As more consumers prioritize convenience and value over brand loyalty, experts say they’re turning to online marketplaces more than ever to buy the things they need, raising the risk they could inadvertently purchase a fake product.
While fake goods have exchanged hands in informal markets since ancient times, the growth of online marketplaces has contributed to the rise in counterfeits because of how easy online shopping and selling have become. A CNBC investigation of Walmart‘s marketplace published Friday uncovered dozens of third-party sellers who had stolen the identity of another business, and some of them were offering fake health and beauty products.
After CNBC shared its reporting with Walmart, the company began tightening its vetting process for some products and sellers and said it has a “zero-tolerance policy for prohibited or noncompliant products.”
Serene Lee | SOPA Images | Lightrocket | Getty Images
Between 2020 and 2024, e-commerce as a percentage of overall U.S. retail sales reached record highs, and goods seized for intellectual property violations more than doubled during that general time period, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
When shopping on online marketplaces, consumers need to be “very careful” to avoid inadvertently purchasing fakes, said Megan Carpenter, the dean and professor of intellectual property law at the University of New Hampshire’s Franklin Pierce School of Law.
“You’re purchasing from sellers, distributors, manufacturers that are all over the world with the push of a button,” said Carpenter, who previously practiced intellectual property law. “Sometimes you hear the phrase, ‘buy cheap, buy twice,’ but there are also big safety and danger issues” that come from purchasing fakes online, she said.
Counterfeit products have been endemic to third-party marketplaces for as long as they have existed, but it is difficult to quantify just how common they are. While longtime marketplace operators have made numerous policy changes over the years to crack down on fakes, the nature of the platforms makes it difficult to eradicate counterfeits altogether. Amazon said it has taken steps to address fakes on its platform, and is “proud of the progress” it has made in preventing counterfeits. Walmart added in its statement to CNBC that customers who are not satisfied with an item can return it for a full refund.
To ensure consumers are getting the real thing, here are a few guidelines experts said people should follow when shopping on online marketplaces.
Research the seller
Plenty of brands sell their products directly to consumers through online marketplaces. If the company that makes the item is the one that’s also selling it, experts said that’s always a consumer’s best bet when shopping on online platforms.
If the seller offering the item is not the brand, consumers should research the business to make sure it is legitimate.
In the past, the name or business information of a third-party seller offering a product wasn’t always clear. But the Inform Consumers Act, a law that took effect in 2023, now requires platforms to publish that information for certain sellers.
When shopping on marketplaces like Walmart and Amazon, consumers can see the name of the seller offering the product on the right-hand side of the page. When they click the business name, they can typically see more information, such as its address, phone number and some information about what it does.
The seller’s page will offer a host of clues to consumers. Shoppers can typically see where the business is based, go over its catalog of items and read the reviews it has received. If other shoppers have left reviews saying the business sold fake products, that’s a good sign that consumers should find another seller or other place to purchase the goods.
Shoppers should also check the address of the business. For example, if the seller is offering beauty products and the address either doesn’t exist or goes back to a car repair shop, that’s a red flag.
The name of the business matters, too, said Kari Kammel, the director of the Center for Anti-Counterfeiting and Product Protection at Michigan State University.
“For example, if you’re buying toys online, and the seller is called, you know, cheap kitchen utensils shop, there’s a discrepancy there, right?” she said. “So it can be a red flag.”
If it’s not immediately obvious if the brand is selling the item, a quick Google search will typically reveal whether the marketplace seller is an authorized distributor of the product. Many brands publish information about resellers on their websites.
When shopping for health and beauty items, the kinds of products that go in or on someone’s body, consumers should only buy directly from the brand or one of its authorized distributors to make sure they are getting genuine products, experts said.
“With any of these counterfeits, you’re gambling, right? You may get one that doesn’t cause any harm, but maybe it just won’t last as long, if you’re lucky,” said Kammel. “On the flip side, you may get something that just totally fails in what would be a normal quality or safety inspection from a legitimate company, and can cause serious harm.”
Plenty of the stuff sold on online marketplaces is considered first party, meaning the platform owns and distributes the products themselves on a wholesale basis. If consumers see “sold and shipped by Amazon” or “sold and shipped by Walmart” they can feel comfortable purchasing the item, regardless of the category, experts said.
Question the price
When shopping on online marketplaces, consumers should keep in mind the old adage: “If it looks too good to be true, it probably is.”
If a shopper sees a luxury beauty cream that’s being sold at a 91% discount from its typical retail price, as CNBC found during its investigation into Walmart’s marketplace, that’s a major red flag that the item could be counterfeit.
“One of the strongest hooks to get people to buy these counterfeit products, of course, is price,” said Saleem Alhabash, the associate director of research at Michigan State’s Center for Anti-Counterfeiting and Product Protection. “Making it sound like it’s too good of a deal to pass along.”
Sometimes, the products that third-party sellers are offering are discounted because they were purchased from liquidators or during a promotion directly from a retailer or brand. In those cases, the price reduction will usually be more modest and the item’s cost will be closer to the typical selling price, experts said.
Still, counterfeiters are getting more savvy and are using market data to price their products, Alhabash said. Sometimes, fake goods can be priced nearly identically to the typical selling cost, he said.
Packaging
When consumers buy from third-party sellers on online marketplaces and still aren’t sure if they’ve purchased a legitimate item, the product’s packaging can also offer clues once it arrives.
“Take a second to just look at it and see if it looks right,” said Kammel. “If they get it, and it’s a product they’ve used before and they still have the old packaging of the product, just do a quick side by side.”
A misspelling on a bottle of counterfeit Immuno 150 supplements purchased from Walmart.com.
CNBC
Sometimes, packaging could look different because the manufacturer changed it. In other cases, red flags like typos on the box could indicate the product is counterfeit. If the brand hasn’t changed the packaging, check to see if the design and size of the packaging is the same as what’s sold in stores.
When in doubt, consumers can always call the brand to make sure.
What to do if you buy a fake product
If a shopper buys something they believe is fake, they should stop using it immediately and report it to the platform they purchased it from, said Kammel. Here are a few other steps Kammel said shoppers should take:
- If you’re having a physical reaction to the product, seek medical attention to avoid further harm.
- Try reporting it to a government office for investigation, such as the state attorney general or the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center.
- Document the seller’s information, including their name, business address and phone number.
- Log other evidence, including the transaction receipt, the link to the listing, and pictures of the packaging and the product.
- Consider reporting it to the brand to let them know what happened.
Business
Piyush Goyal Dismisses Rahul Gandhi’s Farmer Meet Video, Rebuts ‘Fake Narrative’ On India-US Trade Deal
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The minister offered a detailed reality check to counter what he termed ‘Rahul ji’s fakery’
Goyal reiterated that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s policies are intrinsically linked to farmer welfare. (File Photo: PTI)
Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal has accused Congress leader Rahul Gandhi of orchestrating a “fake narrative” aimed at provoking India’s farming community. Responding to a video released on social media by the Leader of the Opposition on Friday, Goyal dismissed the interaction as a stage-managed performance featuring Congress activists masquerading as genuine farmer leaders. He asserted that the dialogue followed a predetermined script designed to mislead the public regarding the safeguards in the recent India-US trade deal.
Rahul Gandhi has alleged that “any trade deal that takes away the livelihood of farmers or weakens the food security of the country is anti-farmer”. He was pointing to the recently concluded India-US framework agreement for bilateral trade, which is expected to be signed after tweaks by the end of March.
Piyush Goyal offered a detailed reality check to counter what he termed “Rahul ji’s fakery”, placing on record that the Narendra Modi government has fully protected the interests of annadatas, fishermen, MSMEs, and artisans. The minister categorically clarified that sensitive crops like soyameal and maize have been granted no concessions whatsoever in the agreement, ensuring that domestic farmers remain shielded from competitive pressure. He criticised the opposition for repeating “baseless allegations” in an attempt to instill unnecessary fear among the rural population.
Addressing specific claims regarding apple and walnut imports, the minister provided a technical breakdown of the protectionist measures in place. He noted that while India already imports approximately 550,000 tonnes of apples annually due to high domestic demand, the new US deal does not allow unlimited entry. Instead, a strict quota has been established, far below current import levels, and subject to a Minimum Import Price (MIP) of Rs 80 per kg. With an additional duty of Rs 25, the landed cost of US apples will be roughly Rs 105 per kg—significantly higher than the current average landed cost of Rs 75 per kg from other nations—thereby ensuring Indian growers are not undercut. Similarly, for walnuts, the US has been offered a modest quota of 13,000 metric tonnes against India’s total annual import requirement of 60,000 metric tonnes, making it impossible for the deal to harm local producers.
Goyal also took a swipe at the historical record of the Congress party, pointing out the irony of its current stance. He reminded the public that during the Congress-led UPA era, India imported nearly $20 billion worth of agricultural products, including dairy items, which the current administration has strictly excluded from the US pact. He challenged Rahul Gandhi to explain his “betrayal of farmers” and questioned how much longer the opposition intended to peddle fabricated stories.
Concluding with the slogan “Kisan Surakshit Desh Viksit”, Goyal reiterated that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s policies are intrinsically linked to farmer welfare. He maintained that the India-US agreement is a balanced framework that opens new markets for Indian exports like basmati rice and spices while keeping the nation’s agricultural backbone secure.
February 14, 2026, 05:29 IST
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Mesh Cube | Istock | Getty Images
The stock market has been quick to punish software firms and other perceived losers from the artificial intelligence boom in recent weeks, but credit markets are likely to be the next place where AI disruption risk shows up, according to UBS analyst Matthew Mish.
Tens of billions of dollars in corporate loans are likely to default over the next year as companies, especially software and data services firms owned by private equity, get squeezed by the AI threat, Mish said in a Wednesday research note.
“We’re pricing in part of what we call a rapid, aggressive disruption scenario,” Mish, UBS head of credit strategy, told CNBC in an interview.
The UBS analyst said he and his colleagues have rushed to update their forecasts for this year and beyond because the latest models from Anthropic and OpenAI have sped up expectations of the arrival of AI disruption.
“The market has been slow to react because they didn’t really think it was going to happen this fast,” Mish said. “People are having to recalibrate the whole way that they look at evaluating credit for this disruption risk, because it’s not a ’27 or ’28 issue.”
Investor concerns around AI boiled over this month as the market shifted from viewing the technology as a rising tide story for technology companies to more of a winner-take-all dynamic where Anthropic, OpenAI and others threaten incumbents. Software firms were hit first and hardest, but a rolling series of sell-offs hit sectors as disparate as finance, real estate and trucking.
In his note, Mish and other UBS analysts lay out a baseline scenario in which borrowers of leveraged loans and private credit see a combined $75 billion to $120 billion in fresh defaults by the end of this year.
CNBC calculated those figures by using Mish’s estimates for increases of up to 2.5% and up to 4% in defaults for leveraged loans and private credit, respectively, by late 2026. Those are markets which he estimates to be $1.5 trillion and $2 trillion in size.
‘Credit crunch’?
But Mish also highlighted the possibility of a more sudden, painful AI transition in which defaults jump by twice the estimates for his base assumption, cutting off funding for many companies, he said. The scenario is what’s known in Wall Street jargon as a “tail risk.”
“The knock-on effect will be that you will have a credit crunch in loan markets,” he said. “You will have a broad repricing of leveraged credit, and you will have a shock to the system coming from credit.”
While the risks are rising, they will be governed by the timing of AI adoption by large corporations, the pace of AI model improvements and other uncertain factors, according to the UBS analyst.
“We’re not yet calling for that tail-risk scenario, but we are moving in that direction,” he said.
Leveraged loans and private credit are generally considered among the riskier corners of corporate credit, since they often finance below-investment-grade companies, many of them backed by private equity and carrying higher levels of debt.
When it comes to the AI trade, companies can be placed into three broad categories, according to Mish: The first are creators of the foundational large language models such as Anthropic and OpenAI, which are startups but could soon be large, publicly traded companies.
The second are investment-grade software firms like Salesforce and Adobe that have robust balance sheets and can implement AI to fend off challengers.
The last category is the cohort of private equity-owned software and data services companies with relatively high levels of debt.
“The winners of this entire transformation — if it really becomes, as we’re increasingly believing, a rapid and very disruptive or severe [change] — the winners are least likely to come from that third bucket,” Mish said.
Business
Without Rera data, real estate reform risks losing credibility: Homebuyers’ body – The Times of India
New Delhi: More than 75% of state real estate regulators, Reras, have either never published annual reports, discontinued their publication or not updated them despite statutory obligation and directions from the housing and urban affairs ministry, claimed homebuyers’ body FPCE on Friday. It released status report of 21 Reras as of Feb 13.The availability of updated annual reports is crucial as these contain details of data on performance of Reras, including project completion status categorised by timely completion, completion with extensions, and incomplete projects. The ministry’s format for publishing these reports also specifies providing details such as actual execution status of refund, possession and compensation orders as well as recovery warrant execution details with values and list of defaulting builders.FPCE said annual report data is not only vital for homebuyers to assess system credibility, but is equally necessary for both state and central govts to frame effective policies, design incentivisation schemes, and develop tax policy frameworks.“Unless we have credible data proving that after Rera the real estate sector has improved in terms of delivery, fairness, and keeping its promises, we are merely firing in the air,” said FPCE president Abhay Upadhyay, who is also a member of the govt’s Central Advisory Council on Rera.As per details shared by the entity, seven states — Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh and Goa — have never published a single annual report since Rera’s implementation, and nine states, including Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and Telangana, which initially published reports, have discontinued the practice.Upadhyay said when regulators themselves don’t follow the law, they lose the legal right to demand compliance from other stakeholders. “Their failure emboldens builders and weakens the very system they are meant to safeguard,” he said.
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