Online retail and e-commerce giant, Amazon, is currently piloting an initiative in which merchants will be required to use video conference tools in order to verify their identity. This new plan is being considered as a possible solution in the battle against seller fraud without requiring any physical meetings amidst the current COVID-19 pandemic.
This follows repeated scrutiny directed at Amazon over a number of years with regards to their anti-counterfeit and anti-fraudulent practices and policies. Amazon has announced that the pilot launched earlier this year, at the time involving in-person meetings with potential new sellers. Video conferencing tools are now the preferred alternative amidst the spread of Coronavirus due to social distancing measures.
It is said that the new interview vetting system, as well as other risk-screening methods, has already been tested with over 1,000 applicants. These prospective sellers were based in China, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Amazon hopes that this new method will cut down on fraudulent accounts, fake products, false utility bills, and sellers creating multiple accounts using VPNs.
