Amazon employees in both the US and China have reportedly been taking bribes to flog the company’s internal data and other confidential information to the independent merchants that use the e-retailers platform to sell their goods online.

This practice, reported by the Wall Street Journal (WSJ), violates Amazon’s company policy as it gives the merchants an illegal advantage by letting them know customers’ shopping habits, popular keywords and other details that would normally remain secret. Merchants can use this data to rewrite their product descriptions and ads to manipulate their way to the top of the search results.

This sort of behaviour is said to be particularly prevalent in China. The WSJ claims that brokers for Amazon employees in the south-eastern city of Shenzhen are selling off internal sales metrics, reviewers’ email addresses and the ability to delete negative reviews and restore banned accounts. Payments for this illicit service can range from between £60 to more than £1,530.

Merchants Using Bribes to Gain Competitive Edge

It is believed that Amazon has previously taken steps to counter this kind of practice, including a recent executive swap in China to stamp out bribery. But Amazon may find this a monumental task.

With an increasing number of third-party merchants, which means lower prices and better selection, competition between vendors has become more cut-throat. On top of that, the relative income in China tends to be much lower, which could increase the temptation to take bribes.

Unless Amazon can resolve these issues and better incentivise their workers it is likely the leaks will continue. A spokesperson from Amazon has confirmed that the company is conducting a thorough investigation of the allegations.

In a statement, the company said: “We have strict policies and a Code of Business Conduct & Ethics in place for our employees. We implement sophisticated systems to restrict and audit access to information. We hold our employees to a high ethical standard and anyone in violation of our Code faces discipline, including termination and potential legal and criminal penalties.

“In addition, we have zero tolerance for abuse of our systems and if we find bad actors who have engaged in this behaviour, we will take swift action against them, including terminating their selling accounts, deleting reviews, withholding funds, and taking legal action. We are conducting a thorough investigation of these claims.”