Amazon is warning customers who previously purchased Align Probiotic nutritional supplements on its site that the supplements are most likely fake and should be tossed.
"If you still have this product, we recommend that you stop using it immediately and dispose of the item," Amazon wrote in an email to customers who recently purchased Align probiotics, Wired reported. Customers who were sent an email were also told that they would receive a full refund.
Amazon didn’t provide an estimate of how many consumers purchased Align probiotics from its online marketplace.
Removing counterfeit items
In statements to the media, a spokesperson for the company took the opportunity to spotlight Amazon’s initiatives to reduce counterfeit listings on its site. Earlier this year, Amazon launched Project Zero -- a program that enables invited brands to remove fake listings themselves.
The spokesperson didn’t say whether Procter & Gamble or Align were among the brands invited to participate in its counterfeit detection program, nor did Amazon disclose who first discovered that the supplements were fake.
“We investigate every claim of potential counterfeit thoroughly, and often in partnership with brands, and in the rare instance where a bad actor gets through, we take swift action, including removing the item for sale, permanently banning bad actors, pursuing legal action, and working with law enforcement when appropriate,” Amazon said in a statement. “We have taken these actions against the bad actors in question and proactively notified and refunded customers.”