
Amazon Cracks Down on Scams, Fires Employees Over Data Leak - yarapavan
https://www.wsj.com/articles/amazon-amid-crackdown-on-seller-scams-fires-employees-over-data-leak-1544437800
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drewr
_Amazon.com Inc. AMZN -4.12% is fighting a barrage of seller scams on its
website, including firing several employees suspected of having helped supply
independent merchants with inside information, according to people familiar
with the company’s effort._

 _Amazon was investigating suspected data leaks and bribes of its employees,
The Wall Street Journal reported in September. Since then, the company has
dismissed several workers in the U.S. and India for allegedly inappropriately
accessing internal data that was being misused by disreputable merchants,
these people said._

 _Amazon in recent weeks also has deleted thousands of suspect reviews,
restricted sellers’ access to customer data on its website and stifled some
techniques that trick the site into surfacing products higher in search
results, according to the people._

 _...Sellers also are buying Amazon wholesaler accounts on the black market to
gain access to volumes of product listings, people familiar with the practice
said. These accounts on Amazon’s Vendor Central system are designed to enable
wholesalers to edit product listings to ensure they are marketed accurately.
But some sellers misuse these accounts to alter rivals’ product pages, such as
by changing photos to unrelated items, these people said._

 _...Some Chinese firms are selling wholesale vendor accounts for roughly
$15,000, or renting them for up to $1,500 a month, the people familiar with
the matter said._

 _...Amazon has increased efforts to scrub the site of potentially suspicious
reviews, according to sellers. In recent months, some product listings lost
thousands of reviews in a day, a number that can take years to build. Some of
the reviews were legitimate and erased inadvertently, according to the sellers
and a person familiar with the matter._

