Fake Busters, an authentication service with the No. 1 market share in Japan, has entered into a business partnership with AREA 02, one of Taiwan’s largest sneaker marketplaces!

Fake Busters, an authentication service with the No. 1 market share in Japan, has entered into a business partnership with AREA 02, one of Taiwan’s largest sneaker marketplaces! ​
IVA Co., Ltd. Press release: February 10, 2025 Fake Busters, an authentication service with the No. 1 market share in Japan, has entered into a business partnership with AREA 02, one of Taiwan’s largest sneaker marketplaces! ~Improving appraisal accuracy with cross appraisal and delivering safety and security to Taiwanese users~ IVA Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Shibuya-ku, Tokyo, President and CEO: Yoshio Aihara, hereinafter referred to as “IVA”), which operates the “Fake Busters” authentication service with the No. 1 market share in Japan (*1), has entered into a business partnership with Taiwan’s largest sneaker marketplace “AREA 02” and will begin providing authentication services from February 10, 2025. In addition to AREA 02’s original appraisal, Fake Busters will perform cross appraisal to improve appraisal accuracy and create a marketplace that users in Taiwan can use with confidence. This partnership marks the fifth company that we have partnered with a Taiwanese business.
https://prcdn.freetls.fastly.net/release_image/53083/55/53083-55-95a31808b1cfbf99917c46b873e7264c-1950×1096.png ◼️Background and purpose of the partnership While the secondary sneaker distribution market continues to expand worldwide, the distribution of counterfeit products remains a major issue in sneaker marketplaces. Therefore, there is a need to create a highly reliable environment where consumers can conduct transactions with peace of mind. Through this partnership, AREA 02 will begin offering “cross appraisals” by introducing appraisals by Fake Busters, in addition to the original appraisals that have been carried out previously. This will improve the accuracy of appraisals more than ever before and create a marketplace that users in Taiwan can use with peace of mind. AREA 02 is also looking to expand into the global market and expand its scope of handling to categories other than sneakers, and the partnership with Fake Busters, which has strengths in appraising a wide range of categories, is expected to accelerate these efforts. ◼️About the appraisal flow that combines Fake Busters “AREA 02” is Taiwan’s largest sneaker marketplace, established in 2019. As a platform that supports street culture, we conduct professional appraisals and provide consumers with a highly reliable shopping experience.
https://prcdn.freetls.fastly.net/release_image/53083/55/53083-55-e9fcb126846fc2eda47ffce718457177-1950×1096.png When a buyer purchases a product on AREA 02’s platform, the product is sent from the seller to AREA 02 for initial appraisal. After that, Fake Busters will conduct a secondary appraisal. Appraised products will be given a special “Appraised Collaboration Tag” and “Thank You Card,” carefully packaged in an original box, and safely delivered to the purchaser. Once attached, the tag is also equipped with a tamper-evident feature that cannot be removed except by cutting it, which prevents return fraud due to tampering.
https://prcdn.freetls.fastly.net/release_image/53083/55/53083-55-a796a429d0194e708beeb4e9645de5c5-1950×1096.png “Fake Busters” aims to further expand its alliances with domestic and overseas marketplace operators and create a healthy market environment that can deliver safety and security to consumers through
authentication. Through this, we will fundamentally support the rapid growth of the marketplace and contribute to improving the reliability of the secondary distribution market as a whole. ◼️AREA 02 CEO CORY Comment We are honored to announce our collaboration with FAKEBUSTERS, a renowned authentication expert from Japan. This partnership marks a significant step forward in the Asian sneaker market and underscores our commitment to product authenticity and consumer trust. FAKEBUSTERS industry-leading authentication technology and experience, along with years of expertise from their team. They are able to accurately identify counterfeit items and provide highly reliable authentication results. Through this collaboration, we are able to offer AREA 02 users brings a more comprehensive and professional authentication service, further reinforcing our commitment to “transaction security.” Through this partnership, we aim to achieve the following objectives: ・Enhancing Authentication Accuracy and Efficiency: FAKEBUSTERS’ professional technology will significantly improve our ability to authenticate each item, especially for high-risk limited-edition and high-value products. ・Increasing Brand Trustworthiness: By partnering with an industry leader, AREA 02’s credibility with consumers will be further enhanced, becoming an important foundation for our
international expansion. ・Strengthening Impact in the Asian Market: We believe that collaborating with Japan’s leading authentication experts is a crucial strategy to solidify our position in the Asian market and pave the way for further international growth. We are confident that this collaboration is not only an upgrade in technology and service but also a merging of values-our shared commitment to consumer rights and the pursuit of product authenticity. In the future, we will continue to work hard, through more innovations and partnerships, to build the most trustworthy trading platform for sneaker enthusiasts, collectors, figurines, cards, and luxury goods lovers. ◼️Comment from IVA CEO Yoshio Aihara AREA 02, one of the largest sneaker marketplaces in Taiwan, has a strong belief in the management team, including CEO CORY, of delivering a sense of trust and security to consumers, and I deeply sympathized with that attitude. We are very happy to be able to support AREA 02 in becoming a safer and more secure marketplace through this partnership. AREA 02 has already become a movement in Taiwan’s fashion scene, and we look forward to dynamically expanding our partnership with the AREA 02 team as we continue to carry an even wider range of products and expand into global markets. ◼️About “Fake Busters” “Fake Busters” is an authentication service with the No. 1 market share (*1) in Japan, targeting brands with a high number of counterfeit products, with a cumulative total of over 1.8 million appraisals. We perform accurate and quick appraisals by making full use of our appraisal team with a wide variety of backgrounds, state-of-the-art specialized equipment, and AI appraisal technology. We opened a Taiwan base in June 2023 and a Chinese subsidiary in September of the same year, and have been promoting overseas expansion of our business. Currently, in addition to Japanese, it supports five languages: English, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, and Korean, as well as nine major currencies.In the future, we will expand not only to the Japanese market, but also to the Asian, Western, and European markets. Official Instagram account:
https://www.instagram.com/fakebusters_official/ Official X (old Twitter) account: https://x.com/FAKEBUSTERS_JP (*1) In-house research, December 2022 survey, as an “authenticity appraisal service” in Japan
https://prcdn.freetls.fastly.net/release_image/53083/55/53083-55-19f7cb8ad2e963727a659f3c1e78d001-2054×685.png ▼Click here for details and inquiries about the corporate plan “Partnership Program”
https://www.fakebusters-iva.com/ja/BusinessContact ▼About compatible brands Currently, we can appraise approximately 92 brands, including sneaker brands, apparel, accessories, and luxury brands. We will continue to add compatible brands in the future.
https://prcdn.freetls.fastly.net/release_image/53083/55/53083-55-428a0fe824dba6f80450cfe39103bfd3-2058×1158.png ◼️Representative Director and CEO Profile
https://prcdn.freetls.fastly.net/release_image/53083/55/53083-55-97ad22ac04f19abdb0b22adc2258726c-733×733.png Yoshio Aihara Born in 1995. Graduated from Aoyama Gakuin University Graduate School of International Management and obtained an MBA. Developed his first apparel-related business while a student. Focusing on the ever-growing sneaker market and the long-standing problem of fakes in the market, in 2019 he launched FAKEBUSTERS, an
authentication service that achieves high accuracy by combining AI and appraisers, and established IVA Co., Ltd. Bilingual in Japanese and Chinese. Selected for “Forbes JAPAN 30 Under 30 2023” and “Forbes 30 Under 30 Asia 2024″. ◼️Recruitment information The FAKEBUSTERS team has a small number of professionals working together to develop and manage each function, including software development, product development, appraisal operation construction, and corporate functions. We will continue to aim to become an organization that creates new de facto standards while maintaining our small and elite membership. In order to create a world where people say, “Because of FAKEBUSTERS, I can shop with peace of mind,” all of our employees are looking forward to hearing from anyone who would like to make the most of their abilities as part of the FAKEBUSTERS team.
https://herp.careers/v1/iva0403 [Company Profile] IVA Co., Ltd. (Fake Busters management) Location: 3F, 2-22-5 Higashi, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo Representative Director: Yoshio Aihara Business details:
Authentication of sneakers, apparel, branded bags, trading cards URL: https://iva-corp.com/