How do you keep your products authentic when counterfeit sellers can launch livestreams, paid ads, and storefronts faster than a takedown request?
As social commerce accelerates across TikTok Shop, Meta Shops, and YouTube Shopping, brand impersonation and fake listings have evolved from marketplace spam into full-scale ad operations.
In 2025, platforms are tightening enforcement—TikTok Shop joined INTA’s Unreal Campaign, Meta added scam-ad reporting to Brand Rights Protection, and YouTube strengthened counterfeit ad bans under Google’s IP policies. Yet the data shows that detection still lags behind new sales formats like short-form video and livestream flash deals.
This guide breaks down how marketers and brand teams can build a proactive defense: from filing verified IP claims and assembling evidence packs to maintaining steady reporting cadences that prevent counterfeiters from reselling your reach back to you.
TikTok Shop IP Programs and Reporting Framework
TikTok Shop’s explosive growth has made it both a sales driver and a hotspot for counterfeit products, prompting the platform to roll out multiple brand-protection programs and partnerships.
Recently, TikTok joined forces with the International Trademark Association (INTA) through the Unreal Campaign, an initiative aimed at educating younger consumers about the dangers of counterfeit goods.
This collaboration underlines TikTok’s intent to pair education with enforcement, especially as counterfeit listings and unauthorized resellers continue to emerge on TikTok Shop livestreams and Shop listings.
Understanding TikTok’s IP Protection Center
TikTok’s Intellectual Property Protection Center serves as the core portal for submitting and tracking takedown requests related to trademarks, copyrights, or design rights. Registered brands can log into the portal to file infringement claims, attach supporting documentation, and monitor case outcomes.
TikTok verifies submissions through a proof-of-ownership process that typically requires trademark registration certificates or distribution agreements.
In practice, this process closely mirrors Alibaba’s IP Protection Platform (IPP) and Amazon’s Brand Registry, signaling a shift toward standardized brand-protection workflows across social commerce ecosystems.
For instance, Estée Lauder Companies reportedly used TikTok’s complaint mechanism to request removals of unauthorized sellers promoting discounted skincare bundles that infringed its trademarks, aligning with the company’s global anti-counterfeit strategy.
Evidence Pack and Cadence for Enforcement
Brands that succeed with TikTok Shop enforcement tend to maintain a ready-made evidence pack, a digital file that includes:
- Official trademark and design registration certificates
- Product authentication photos showing packaging details and serial codes
- Sales invoices and authorized distributor lists
- Screenshots of infringing videos or Shop listings
TikTok encourages claimants to submit repeat reports on a cadence, weekly or biweekly, rather than isolated complaints. This pattern-based approach helps TikTok’s enforcement team identify repeat infringers more efficiently and improves the likelihood of platform-wide takedowns.
Addressing Livestream Counterfeit Gaps
TikTok Shop’s listing-level enforcement has expanded, but livestreams remain difficult to police. A Reuters investigation found that real-time selling “thwarts some high-tech tools to stop fake merchandise,” as counterfeiters exploit short broadcast windows before moderators can act.
TikTok has also taken steps to strengthen enforcement through its Intellectual Property Protection Centre, and according to its Intellectual Property Rights Report, more than 4,800 seller accounts were deactivated and 5 million listings removed within a single year.
Until livestream scanning tools improve, brands should complement TikTok’s system with third-party monitoring partners such as Red Points or Incopro (Clarivate) to detect counterfeit activity in real time.
Meta Brand Rights Protection Setup and Scam-Ad Expansion
Meta’s scale across Facebook, Instagram, and Marketplace makes it a primary target for counterfeit and scam advertisers. To counter this, the company operates a centralized Brand Rights Protection (BRP) platform designed for IP owners to report and remove infringing content.
In 2025, Meta expanded the BRP dashboard to include scam-ad reporting and impersonation tracking, marking one of its most substantial brand-safety updates to date.
Setting Up Meta’s Brand Rights Protection
Access to BRP requires a verified Meta Business Account and evidence of intellectual-property ownership. Once approved, rights holders can submit batch reports covering ads, posts, Pages, Shops, and Reels. The dashboard’s keyword and image-matching tools allow brands to set up automated searches that flag potential infringements daily.
Meta’s official Brand Rights Protection portal outlines a multi-step process: upload proof of trademark registration, link authorized domains, and define “known infringer” watchlists.
These automated scans help identify repeat violators more quickly than traditional form submissions. For large portfolios, BRP integrates with Commerce Manager, letting brands link enforcement to their Meta Shop product catalog and automatically remove duplicate listings.
Why Scam-Ad Tools Matter
Courts and investigators have documented the scale and harm of paid scam ads on Meta’s platforms.
In June 2024, a U.S. judge allowed Andrew Forrest’s lawsuit to proceed over fraudulent Facebook ads that used his likeness to promote crypto schemes, underscoring the risk to brands and the public when scam creative passes review. This is a clear, sourced example of why scam-ad reporting inside BRP is material for brand protection teams.
Operational Cadence That Works
- Weekly queue: Review BRP search results and submit batch reports on a set cadence so Meta’s systems can learn recurring patterns.
- Scam signals: Add lookalike domains, deceptive URLs, and “too-good-to-be-true” price phrases to saved searches, then use the new scam-ad category when reporting.
- Cross-tool stack: Pair BRP data with external monitoring from vendors like Corsearch or Red Points to map clusters by region and ad account, then push cases into BRP for removal.
- Transparency follow-through: Track outcomes against Meta’s quarterly enforcement publications to pressure-test internal KPIs.
Takeaway: Treat BRP as your central pipe for brand rights protection on Meta and use the new scam-ad reporting to catch fraud that skirts classic IP rules. The combination tightens your social commerce IP defense and reduces paid-media impersonation at scale.
YouTube’s Counterfeit and IP Enforcement Policies
YouTube gives rights holders dedicated legal channels to remove counterfeit-related content and ads, and it applies both Community Guidelines and Google Ads policies across video, channel, and ad surfaces.
What YouTube Actually Enforces
YouTube provides a Counterfeit complaint webform for content that sells or promotes fakes; submissions are investigated, and content is removed if it violates Google’s counterfeit policy.
For trademark misuse (names, logos, channel branding that confuses users), YouTube runs a separate Trademark complaint process. Copyright issues remain under the DMCA-based copyright removal system. Together, these cover most counterfeit scenarios: sales pitches, confusing use of brand marks, and unauthorized creative assets.
YouTube’s Community Guidelines also prohibit scams, impersonation, and certain external links. If a video drives viewers to a site selling regulated or illegal goods, that link can violate policy even if the video itself is coy on specifics.
Ads on YouTube: Google Ads Counterfeit Policy
Paid placements on YouTube are governed by Google Ads’ counterfeit-goods policy, which outright bans the sale or promotion of counterfeit items. This means brands can (and should) report any YouTube ad that pushes fake goods, independent of trademark or copyright filings.
UK police have prosecuted creators who used YouTube to market counterfeits. In 2022, the City of London Police’s Police Intellectual Property Crime Unit (PIPCU) reported the sentencing of a social-media seller who promoted counterfeit designer clothing and phones to more than 20,000 followers; he operated under a YouTube persona (“The Masked Gang Man”) alongside Instagram activity.
The case shows how platform reports plus law-enforcement action can shut down cross-channel counterfeit distribution.
How to File, And What to Include
For faster, successful takedowns, submit via the Counterfeit or Trademark webforms and attach: registered marks, product and packaging identifiers, purchase-path screenshots (video timestamp + description + external link), and any prior enforcement history against the same seller.
If the video routes to a fake store, flag the external link violation in the same report. For paid placements, also lodge a complaint under the Google Ads counterfeit policy to remove the ad and suspend the advertiser.
Monitoring and Transparency
YouTube publishes enforcement data through its Community Guidelines enforcement and copyright transparency reports, which show volumes and outcomes of removals — useful for benchmarking internal KPIs and cadence. While these aren’t counterfeit-specific dashboards, they document how YouTube processes legal removals and policy strikes at scale.
Bottom line: Use YouTube’s counterfeit and trademark channels for content and channel branding, the external-links policy when videos point to fake stores, and Google Ads policy for any paid promotions. Pair filings with police or civil actions when you’re facing repeat or high-value offenders.
Building an Evidence Pack and Monitoring Cadence
To act quickly against counterfeits across TikTok Shop, Meta, and YouTube, brands need standardized, legally defensible “evidence packs.” These documents prove ownership and enable repeat enforcement without delays caused by missing or inconsistent information.
What an Evidence Pack Includes
An effective evidence pack compiles every asset that platforms typically request in counterfeit or IP claims. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) and EUIPO both recommend maintaining easily accessible, timestamped proofs of ownership to accelerate online takedowns. The essential items include:
- Trademark or design registration certificates from national IP offices or WIPO.
- High-resolution product images showing brand identifiers, packaging details, and serial codes.
- Invoices and authorized distributor lists that show a legitimate sales chain.
- Marketing creatives and product pages to confirm consistent brand presentation.
- Screenshots or video links of infringing content with time stamps.
YouTube, TikTok, and Meta all require this type of supporting evidence before removing content, and each reserves the right to reject incomplete submissions.
Monitoring Cadence and Automation
Global luxury groups have increasingly adopted automated counterfeit-detection technology to scale enforcement. For example, LVMH and Richemont are both members of the International Anti-Counterfeiting Coalition (IACC), collaborating with marketplaces and rights-protection vendors to share data on repeat infringers.
Among technology providers, Corsearch and Entrupy have publicly documented partnerships with brands in fashion and electronics. Entrupy reports that its AI authentication devices have been used to verify over 6 million luxury goods, helping law enforcement and resellers identify fakes in real time.
Corsearch’s published case studies show reductions in enforcement timelines through automated image matching and domain monitoring, though no quantified average has been disclosed.
Maintaining a weekly or biweekly reporting cadence remains the most reliable best practice: platforms such as Meta’s Brand Rights Protection and TikTok’s IP Protection Center both accept batch submissions that streamline this routine.
From Reactive Takedowns to Proactive Brand Defense
Counterfeiting has moved from shadow marketplaces into the front lines of social commerce—TikTok Shop livestreams, Instagram ads, and YouTube channels. The platforms have responded with stronger frameworks like TikTok’s IP Protection Center, Meta’s Brand Rights Protection, and Google’s counterfeit ad policy, yet enforcement still depends on how fast and consistently brands act.
Building a verified evidence pack, setting a steady reporting cadence, and using trusted enforcement partners such as Red Points, Corsearch, or Entrupy turns fragmented brand protection into a measurable process.
As the 2025 updates to Meta’s scam-ad reporting and TikTok’s INTA collaboration show, social platforms are widening their guardrails—but vigilance remains a brand’s own responsibility.
Brands that treat IP defense as an ongoing operational rhythm, not a crisis response, will be the ones whose names stay authentic as social commerce keeps scaling.
Frequently Asked Questions
How is TikTok Shop tackling counterfeit sellers in 2025?
TikTok has strengthened enforcement through its Intellectual Property Protection Center and new partnerships with industry groups that enhance takedown speed. The platform now combines seller verification, data sharing, and automated detection tools for counterfeits overview to curb fake listings across livestreams and storefronts.
What red flags should brands watch for in fake TikTok Shop listings?
Common signals include sudden price drops, new sellers with minimal activity, and duplicate product photos. Many scam listings originate from fake fulfillment profiles—patterns exposed in FraudOnTok’s investigation into hijacked TikTok Shops, which shows how scammers clone verified pages and intercept buyer traffic.
How can Meta advertisers secure their ad accounts from counterfeit campaigns?
Ad impersonation often starts with compromised access tokens or cloned Business Manager assets. Following multi-step Meta ad account security best practices—like enabling 2FA and verifying ad domains—helps prevent counterfeiters from buying scam ads through stolen credentials.
Should brands use external services to monitor counterfeit goods on marketplaces?
Yes. Dedicated Amazon brand protection agencies help enforce IP rights across multiple marketplaces, not just Amazon. These vendors use visual-recognition AI to identify fake SKUs that frequently reappear on TikTok, Meta, and emerging commerce sites.
What tools help analyze counterfeit-related sales patterns?
Brands can track keyword trends, price anomalies, and product overlap using Amazon marketing software tools, which reveal how counterfeit traffic mirrors authentic product demand across channels, offering early warning signals for social commerce teams.
How are trade tensions affecting counterfeit supply chains on TikTok?
Ongoing scrutiny of Chinese export networks has increased oversight of product sourcing on social platforms. The Trade War highlights how policy shifts and supplier crackdowns are pushing counterfeit operations to relocate, impacting global enforcement timelines.
