Research has time and again indicated the increase in traffic on the internet due to the pandemic and the work-from-home situation. Apart from office managers and workers, sellers initiated their brands online to comply with COVID restrictions. Online markets aren’t as easy to manage as they appear. Setting up an account online is comparatively easy, but strategies are needed to attract more customers.

You might not find it new, but a marketplace is open to all types of people; investors, buyers, sellers, and, unfortunately, scammers. Since the platform is new for most users, a couple of instances of online fraud, identity theft, and unlawful impersonation have made it difficult for buyers to assess the authenticity of online businesses. 

Counterfeiting and piracy are not new to online businesses. They’ve just become more rampant with more online businesses in the market. Counterfeiting could be best understood as an imitation of an original product. The aim behind such a move is pre-dominantly to benefit from the original’s reputation, sales, and quality. Some of the most counterfeited products include jewelry items, clothing, and handbags. You’ll also find counterfeits of branded items, but they can be easily distinguished from the original.

Here are a few piracy and counterfeiting solutions to protect your brand from online scams.

Go Legal

A business is an absolute labor of love. It takes time, dedication, and a good amount of capital. You should not let a scammer mess with the integrity and reputation of your business. Especially for online businesses, taking a legal route will be more feasible.

There are three ways you can involve the legal system to help you out.

Get A Copyright

The name of the business and its logo represent the brand. Once you attain copyright for your business, your brand’s logo and name can’t be used without your permission. A copyright is a legal document that gives you leverage to reserve the brand’s right for yourself.

Patent Rights

Patent rights work best for original ideas turned into businesses. These are also businesses that are most affected by counterfeiting and piracy. These businesses gradually build on their accumulated capital and can be easily counterfeited for malicious purposes. 

If your idea has no competitors in the market, the first step you need to take is to get the patent registered. Once you have the patent registered, you’re legally covered for all issues of counterfeiting and piracy.

Opt for Authentic Channels of Engagement

Most counterfeiting and pirated products do not invest in the brand’s appeal and marketing like the original business does. You can add quality to your product by selecting marketers and retailers to distribute your product through authentic online channels. The more transparent your networking channels, the easier it’ll be to identify your distinguished brand in the market.

Keep An Eye Out for Scammers

When you’re in the market, you need to be vigilant about the identity of your products and the personal information of your clientele. To already have a market to sell to would be the last thing you’d want a counterfeiter to have. Keep your clientele and their information confidential.

You should try search engines to see if something resembling your brand pops up. If it does, be ready to take action immediately.

Hire Professionals to Help You with Net Surfing

The world wide web is a horizon too vast for a business person to explore. If you’re a new business, you don’t want going after counterfeiters and online pirates to take up much of your time. For the best outcome, get trusted anti-piracy services aboard.

They will watch the market for you and offer you standard anti-piracy solutions. Most of these anti-piracy solutions work wonders for business growth and development.

Have the Dark Web Scanned

What you explore and browse through on the internet only constitutes a tenth of the internet’s entirety. The internet consists of two denser regions:

• The deep web
• The dark web

Both require special browsers like Tor (the most famous) or Freenet for usage. It’s on the dark web that most criminal activities take place. Most counterfeiters thrive through selling products based on identity theft.

At this point, you need a service that knows the dark web well. Dark web monitoring services offer the most detailed reports for brand-related activities on the dark web. Onsist is an anti-piracy service operating from the Netherlands. The service is known for its keen dark web inspection for brand-related anomalies.

Take Your Customers on Board About Your Policy

A brand builds its customers through mutual trust. It can be difficult to gain your customers’ confidence in an online business. We’ll advise you to be always upfront about your policies. A customer doesn’t love anything more than purchase transparency. Take your customers on board about your brand policies. Make them understand your terms and conditions well.

Next time a customer finds a similar product like yours at awfully reduced prices, they should know that your brand doesn’t give that much of a discount. They should also be well-versed about your company’s trademark and branding.