Integrity, Notification, and Fairness in Online Retail Marketplaces for Consumers (INFORM) Act
We want to take a moment to express our focus and commitment to helping and improving the lives of loss prevention and asset protection team members. PPS is a company dedicated to being your trusted advisor for all your LP needs.
As we begin 2021, a growing concern for the LP industry is finding a way to prevent stolen merchandise from being sold online. The ongoing COVID-19 restrictions are forcing more people to buy online than in previous years. This shines a bright light on the continued problem of stolen merchandise being sold using third-party platforms like Facebook Marketplace and Amazon. This is a significant concern for retailers because the marketplace requires little authentication, which makes tracking the criminals increasingly difficult. It has even drawn the attention of Organized Retail Crime (ORC) networks, which use these online marketplaces to resell their stolen merchandise anonymously. The Department of Homeland Security’s 2020 “Combating Trafficking in Counterfeit and Pirated Goods” report, read here, stated this is not only a United States problem, but it’s a global problem. It explained counterfeit and pirated goods “amounted to as much as a trillion dollars in 2016”.
In 2020 the Integrity, Notification, and Fairness in Online Retail Marketplaces for Consumers (INFORM) Act was introduced to Congress, read here. The INFORM Act will require any online marketplace to collect and verify the third-party sellers’ business information. It will include government ID, tax ID, bank account, and contact information, and high-volume sellers will be required to provide their contact information to consumers. This act will make it increasingly difficult for ORC networks to create and sell from fake accounts. Any ORC network that attempts to resell stolen items, law enforcement and retail asset protection teams will be able to track them better.
As we begin the year, please be sure to take the time to educate those around you and lobby for the INFORM Act.
If you would like more information about PPS’s services or products, please contact Tim Gates by phone at 888-542-3065 or 252-362-1232 or by email at tgates@productprotectionsolutions.com.
Product Protection Solutions (PPS) will listen then guide with excellent, trustworthy advice that ensures rapid, complete, custom, and technologically advanced LP solutions to deliver the desired outcome every time.
Resources:
https://www.dhs.gov/sites/default/files/publications/20_0124_plcy_counterfeit-pirated-goods-report_01.pdf https://losspreventionmedia.com/lobbying-for-the-inform-act/
https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/senate-bill/3431/text
