The Alarming Rise of Online Brand Infringements: Why Every Brand Needs a Digital Shield

BrandShield - Selling online has never been easier, but neither has selling counterfeits. As marketplaces, social media, and livestream platforms explode in popularity, counterfeiters, phishers, and digital scammers are capitalizing on the global shift to eCommerce. Between 2020 and 2025, digital brand infringements have more than doubled. From fake listings on Amazon to AI-generated phishing emails, the scale of abuse is unprecedented.

Counterfeiters Go Global

Online counterfeiting was already booming before COVID-19, but the pandemic pushed it into overdrive. According to U.S. Customs and Border Protection, intellectual property seizures more than doubled from 2020 to 2024. The value of these seized goods rose by 95% — with jewelry, handbags, and pharmaceuticals topping the list.

• 97% of fakes are shipped via small packages — harder to track.
• China and Hong Kong are the source of 90% of counterfeit items.
• The global trade in fakes is worth over $467 billion, nearly 2.3% of global trade.

And it’s not just static marketplaces — counterfeiters have gone social.

Social Commerce: The New Frontline

With platforms like TikTok, Douyin, and WeChat offering in-app shopping, counterfeiters are blending in with influencers and livestream sellers.

In 2024 alone:

• WeChat shut down 120,000 livestreams for selling fakes.
• 32,000 hosts were penalized.
• Fake luxury goods were sold under the guise of "factory direct" deals on TikTok.

More than half of Gen Z now shops via social media, making this a critical channel for brand protection.

Forms of Brand Infringement

• Counterfeit Products – Luxury goods, pharma, electronics.
• Phishing & Brand Impersonation – AI-driven scams using cloned websites and stolen branding.
• Cybersquatting – Fake or typo domains redirecting users to scams.
• Social Media Impersonation – Fake accounts promoting fake goods with real branding.

Phishing attacks have risen 700% since 2020. In 2024 alone, 6,168 domain disputes were filed globally.

The Real-World Impact

• In 2023, 9% of all authenticated products were fake.
• Counterfeiting costs 434,000 jobs across the EU.
• Dangerous fakes include pharmaceuticals and auto parts, posing serious health risks.

The bottom line: this isn’t just a brand issue — it’s a consumer safety issue.

How BrandShield, Powered by Softprom, Protects Your Brand

BrandShield offers a comprehensive brand protection platform, powered by AI, and delivered with Softprom’s expertise across Central and Eastern Europe, the CIS, and Central Asia.

What BrandShield Does:

• Scans marketplaces, social media, websites, and domains in real time.
• Detects threats like fake profiles, unauthorized sellers, and phishing domains.
• Initiates enforcement: Removes fake listings, shuts down domains, and takes action against impersonators.

Its marketplace monitoring crawls hundreds of platforms, while social media tools stop impersonators before they go viral. A unified dashboard gives you a real-time overview of threats and actions taken.

What’s Next?

The threat landscape will continue to evolve:

• Counterfeiting and phishing are growing.
• Social commerce is becoming the norm.
• AI is making fraud more scalable than ever.

But enforcement is evolving too. Platforms like eBay and WeChat are cracking down. And with BrandShield — officially distributed by Softprom — brands have a real solution to stay ahead.