Dupe influencers exploiting social media to peddle luxury fakes

Dupe—slang for duplicate—influencers are individuals who persuade buyers to purchase counterfeits using social media platforms to drive a brand message intended to confer legitimacy on the purchase decision. Dupe influencers sell fake luxury goods online to their cadres of followers, who relate to the influencers’ fashion savviness and who trust their judgment of products’ quality. In this article, I provide a synopsis of a case Amazon settled against two dupe influencers who used social media to promote the sale of counterfeit luxury products. I highlight the persistent challenge of luxury counterfeits sold online, the consumer complicity of obtaining luxury fakes, and the problem of discerning a knockoff from a counterfeit product. Dupe influencers leverage trust with their followers and use social media tactics, such as unboxing videos and designer haul promotions, to peddle luxury fakes. Recommendations to combat dupe influencers center on monitoring and working with e-commerce platforms to shut down social media posts that infringe a company’s intellectual property, raising consumer awareness of the illicit activities of counterfeiters through education campaigns, leveraging legitimate social influencers to debunk the dupe influencers, and pursuing legal remedies.