San Francisco, CA: October 14, 2026 – Pew Research Center's 2025 survey of US adults found that 17% of online shoppers had received a counterfeit product and been unable to get a refund. A further 31% said they paid for an item that never arrived. In Europe, a Mastercard survey found that 10% of respondents had received counterfeit goods in past holiday seasons.
Counterfeits reach customers through every kind of storefront: third-party marketplace sellers, social media shops, sponsored search ads and standalone websites that borrow a brand's name and imagery.
The refund gap matters. When a customer cannot recover their money they often blame the brand they thought they were buying from, and they may share that experience publicly.
“Every counterfeit sale leaves a customer with a bad experience that carries our client's name. Removing the seller is only half of it; the other half is making it easy for customers to report and be heard,” says Daniel Hartley, Chief Revenue Officer at MarkScout.