Bye-bye, counterfeits: how Shopee keeps its platform safe with AI

Summary:

• Counterfeiting is a major and evolving challenge in the ecommerce landscape.
• Shopee is using AI and machine learning to proactively combat counterfeit listings.
• Collaboration with brand owners and industry partners is crucial to the success of its anti-counterfeiting efforts.
• Dive deeper into how Shopee is taking on these bad actors.

Ecommerce has allowed more people to participate in the digital economy, making buying and selling easier than ever.

However, some bad actors have exploited this accessibility. Counterfeiting – online and offline – remains a challenge, with technology both hampering and helping the process.

“Counterfeiters constantly adopt new tactics in order to try to evade detection,” says Olivier de Combret, head of brand protection at ecommerce platform Shopee.

Olivier de Combret, head of brand protection at Shopee / Photo credit: Shopee

These tactics, he says, could include common ones like over-zooming on product images and frequently changing keywords in listings to trip up consumers and brand owners.

“Such tricks can make it difficult for everyday consumers to determine if the listing they’ve found is truly a good deal or the work of a counterfeiter,” de Combret shares.

For Shopee, protecting brands on its site is essential in maintaining customer trust and ensuring a safe and reliable shopping experience across the region. As such, the company established a comprehensive Brand Protection Program to deal with counterfeit goods and sellers on its platform.

“The brand protection program encompasses a range of initiatives, as well as policies and systems that we’ve developed in close partnership with intellectual property holders, enforcement agencies, and industry stakeholders,” de Combret explains.

Staying ahead of the scam

Technologies like AI and machine learning are playing an increasingly critical role as customers and ecommerce platforms work to stay ahead of these challenges.

Across industries, AI is already being widely implemented across different sectors – from fraud detection in banking to rapid threat identification in cybersecurity – offering clear models for how ecommerce defenses can be strengthened.

Shopee is also actively leveraging these tools to enhance detection and prevention efforts through its Smart Identification System (SIS). This cutting-edge solution proactively detects and removes listings breaching IP rules.

Previously, most product authentication depended on human analysis. This led to bottlenecks and a higher error rate, which slowed down the process.

Powered by rapid data analysis and pattern recognition, SIS allows Shopee to automatically and rapidly skim large datasets for possible counterfeits. This is done using a range of different factors that assess whether an item is counterfeit or not.

“The system then flags potential infringements and removes them before customers ever see them,” says de Combret. “SIS enables us to stay ahead of bad actors whose tactics constantly evolve and prevent them from being able to go undetected.”

Improving through partnership

While undoubtedly a Shopee innovation, SIS would not exist without strong collaboration between the ecommerce giant and its vast network of industry partners. In fact, SIS itself was born out of a partnership between Shopee and the Pharmaceutical Security Institute to root out listings of prescription and prohibited drugs.

“When IP rights holders and brand owners come aboard our Brand Protection program, they provide us with data on their products, such as genuine product images and commonly used keywords,” says de Combret.

Photo credit: PeopleImages / Shutterstock

Channeled through Shopee’s Brand IP portal, this data enables the ecommerce platform to train SIS to identify what an authentic product listing looks like in a more precise manner.

For example, consider how SIS looks at pricing when assessing whether a listing is fraudulent or not. In many cases, it’s not as simple as equating cheap products with counterfeits.

By taking into consideration a range of other factors such as misspelled brand names, blurred images, or concealed or distorted logos, SIS makes it much harder for infringers to hide by simply changing listing prices to lure in unsuspecting customers.

This data has also allowed SIS to develop models customized to individual brand profiles.

“Indicators of potential counterfeiting may vary from brand to brand, and between product types, and these tailored models enable us to capture nuanced brand- and category-specific patterns,” de Combret says. “That enables more effective detection and enforcement across a wider range of categories.”

Learn more about Shopee’s brand protection efforts

Partnerships still play a central role in the continued enhancement of SIS, as exemplified by the various initiatives and programs Shopee initiates with organizations throughout the region, both offline and online.

“By forging stronger, more collaborative relationships with industry stakeholders and associations, we continuously refine enforcement protocols and optimize the user experience within our brand protection program,” says de Combret.

Participants at Shopee’s recent IP Bootcamp in the Philippines / Photo credit: Shopee

One example of how Shopee does this is through its IP Bootcamps, which equip participants with knowledge of the company’s Brand Protection Program and IP Portal. The most recent one was held in the Philippines in June 2025, in collaboration with the Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines.

“As rights holders come on board the Shopee Brand Protection program, they not only get direct access to practical tools and enforcement mechanisms, such as SIS,” de Combret explains.

SIS’ success

SIS’ scope has significantly expanded since it was developed two years ago. Now, it has moved beyond its beginnings in pharmaceuticals to encompass major ecommerce categories such as fashion, electronics, and FMCG products – those that are commonly targeted for counterfeit activity.

This evolution, according to de Combret, reflects SIS’ increasing relevance and impact across the broader online digital ecosystem.

Photo credit: Chay_Tee / Shutterstock

Furthermore, SIS’ brand-specific models tripled from 24 in 2023 to 78 in 2024, leading to a massive uplift in Shopee’s ability to detect and remove infringing listings.

“In 2024, we were able to remove over 97% infringing listings before any sales occurred, and that’s been really important for our brands,” says de Combret. “Between the first and second halves of 2024, they saw a 48% decrease in total IP infringement reports.”

For one participating fashion brand, SIS removed 61x more infringing listings than those manually reported within just six months. IP rights report submissions from the brand also declined by 79%.

“This showcases the effectiveness of proactive enforcement in easing operational burdens on brands,” de Combret explains.

Automation and AI have enhanced Shopee’s notice-and-takedown process as well.

“Even though we’re working with more rights holders than ever, we’ve still been able to address all our reports in a timely manner,” de Combret adds. “We’re down to an average takedown time of under 2 days.”

Aiming higher: a roadmap for the future

For de Combret, these achievements reflect the tangible benefits SIS can create for the everyday customer.

“The system helps protect buyers from counterfeits, enabling them to shop with greater peace of mind,” he says.

Brands, on the other hand, are freed from the burden of enforcing their IP rights on their own and can rest assured that their reputations remain pristine.

More improvements are on the way for SIS, according to de Combret, with Shopee already integrating self-learning capabilities with the help of large language models, and further refinements are currently in progress.

“We want to enable SIS to address evolving evasion tactics without human input,” he adds.

The company has already achieved its target of reducing takedown times for manually reported listings to two days across all markets, and is working to shorten takedown times even further.

“We remain focused on enhancing our brand protection program to make our platform more secure, transparent, and trusted,” de Combret says. “We’re committed to protecting IP rights and supporting our partners across the region.”

Shopee is an ecommerce platform committed to building a safe and trusted online marketplace where customers can shop with confidence. It leverages cutting-edge innovations and close collaboration to tackle evolving IP threats and protect brands.

Dive deeper into how Shopee protects brands’ IP rights.

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This content was produced by Tech in Asia Studios, which connects brands with Asia’s tech community. Learn more about partnering with Tech in Asia Studios.