On April 12, one of Cassie Ho’s followers sent her a message flagging a fake listing of her sports product on Amazon, and what she found left her in disbelief.
Imagine seeing a video of yourself in your own home listed on Amazon — and it’s been altered to make your face look like someone else’s.
That’s what happened to Cassie Ho, founder and CEO of workout apparel company Popflex and fitness brand Blogilates. Ho has 2.8 million followers on Instagram and 3.5 million followers on TikTok, and Taylor Swift was recently spotted wearing Ho’s patented Popflex Pirouette Skort.
“I would almost say there [have] were hundreds of fraudulent listings of my products on Amazon,” she told Fox News Digital.
On April 12, a follower sent her a message flagging such a fake listing on Amazon, and Ho’s team immediately began looking into it.
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Blogilates and Popflex founder Cassie Ho says an Amazon listing for a fake version of her gender used her video but altered it, possibly using AI to make her face look different. (Blogilates/TikTok/Fox News)
“Then I clicked on it and swiped through the photos of the stolen models … and then I saw a preview of my video and clicked on it. And the moment I saw my body with another face, it was really violent. It was just all wrong. I felt like Black Mirror.
The Amazon listing, which has since been removed, offered a fake version of Ho’s Pirouette Skort for less than what the real Popflex was selling for. However, the fake Amazon listing included Ho’s own photos and video of her product. The photos and video have been altered, possibly by artificial intelligence or AI.
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“Amazon strictly prohibits counterfeit and IP-infringing products from our store,” an Amazon spokesperson told Fox News Digital. “We have proactive measures to prevent fake or infringing products from being listed, and from the moment a seller lists a product for sale, our advanced technology continuously scans for potential counterfeits, fraud and abuse, including future changes submitted for the product. If we identify a problem, we act quickly to protect customers and brands, including removing listings and blocking accounts as appropriate.”
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Blogilates and Popflex founder Cassie Ho says an Amazon listing for a fake version of her gender used her video but altered it, possibly using AI to make her face look different. (Casey Ho/Blogilates/Fox News)
Ho suggests that the fake seller, Begoing, did this to avoid Amazon detection.
“Basically, they did me a reverse fake. So they took my face out and put it on another face,” Ho said of the video, which is listed as a copy on Amazon. “And I believe that these people on the list are doing this so that copyright infringement is harder for an AI robot to detect… because to the human eye it’s two different videos, but to the eye of a robot, if the person is different, then it is different. That’s why they do these things.”
“They turned me deeply false.”
Ho said sellers also “photoshop” models into her photos and slightly alter how they look to avoid detection. She must fill out a form every time she wants a fake item removed from Amazon and then wait for a response from the tech giant, a process that is getting old with a small team battling one or more fraudulent listings a day.
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Cassie Ho is the founder and CEO of Popflex and Blogilates. She is also the lead designer of Popflex. (Casey Ho/Blogilates/Fox News)
“Every day there [are] a few new ones. … We don’t even go looking for it anymore because we all find hundreds [of dupes]. And I’m not just talking about Amazon. It’s all on the internet. It’s everywhere. … At least Amazon is an American platform. There’s a bit of management though…it’s harder for the victim of the crime to take it down than it is for these morons to steal my picture and release it, so put the whole thing on the victim.”
“All the work is thrown on the victim.”
Amazon said it offers affordable alternatives to high-end products but does not infringe on a particular brand’s intellectual property, which is what happened in Ho’s recent experience. The tech giant says its automated technology scans billions of attempted changes to product detail pages per day for signs of potential abuse, such as keywords, text and logos that are identical or similar to registered trademarks or copyrighted material .
Amazon also has a “brand registration” service for brand owners to better manage and expand their brand with Amazon while protecting intellectual property rights, the company said.
Much of Ho’s social media content focuses on how she brings her designs to life from start to finish. (Casey Ho/Blogilates)
The process of tracking down counterfeit versions of her Popflex products “takes a lot of mental and emotional energy.” Shein, a Chinese fast fashion company valued at around $100 billion, according to Business Insider, also recently listed a cheaper fake version of the Pirouette Skourt.
To add to the chaos, Ho says scammers have made the shopping process “confusing” for customers who like her products. While most of her followers are helpful in pointing out and reporting fraudulent listings, some feel entitled to cheaper versions of her designs, openly admitting in the comments section that they can’t afford her products and would rather buy copies.
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The Pirouette Skort retails for $60 on the Popflex website, a competitive price compared to other popular workout brands. LuluLemon sells a similar pleated workout pant for $88. Athleta sells more basic workout pants for around $50.
“It’s just a really weird mentality that shows how disrespectful people are to artists and creators, because at the end of the day, if there’s no artists and original creators, who’s the stupid con artist?” You wouldn’t even have that skirt you thought you had the right to buy,” Ho said.
Much of Ho’s social media content focuses on how she brings her designs to life from start to finish. She shows her followers how a pencil sketch can turn into a real product and takes user feedback seriously. For example, if Ho unveils a new Popflex product and receives feedback from followers that it needs pockets or a different waist, she often releases a newer version of her product that meets her customers’ desires.
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Ho believes Amazon should change some of its policies to make it easier for independent designers to fight counterfeit products and harder for sellers to list fake items. She said she had tried to contact the tech giant’s counterfeiting unit without success.
“I really feel hopeless,” Ho said.
