Filed: 2022 AUG 09 09:00 AM King County Superior Court Clerk E-Filed CASE #: 22-2-12553-5 SEA

1 FILED
2022 AUG 09 09:00 AM

2 KING COUNTY
SUPERIOR COURT CLERK
3 E-FILED
CASE #: 22-2-12553-5 SEA
4
7 SUPERIOR COURT OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON

KING COUNTY
8
9 AMAZON.COM, INC., a Delaware corporation;

and AMAZON.COM SERVICES LLC, a
10 Delaware limited liability company, No.
11
Plaintiffs, COMPLAINT FOR DAMAGES
12 AND INJUNCTIVE RELIEF
v.
13
DOES 1-5, d/b/a Climbazon.com,
14
15 Defendants.
16
17 COMPLAINT
18 Plaintiffs Amazon.com, Inc. and Amazon.com Services LLC (collectively, “Amazon”)
19 bring this action against defendants Does 1–5 (collectively, “Defendants”), who are responsible
20 for the website Climbazon.com (“Climbazon”), for injunctive relief and damages as follows:
21 I. SUMMARY
22 1. Every day, millions of consumers who shop in Amazon’s stores use customer
23 product reviews to assist with purchasing decisions. Customer trust and fair competition in
24 Amazon’s stores depend, in part, on the authenticity of those reviews. The bad actors who pay
25 for product reviews erode that customer trust, compete unfairly with the millions of honest
26 entrepreneurs who sell in Amazon’s stores, and tarnish Amazon’s brand.
27
Davis Wright Tremaine LLP
920 Fifth Avenue, Suite 3300
COMPLAINT - 1 Seattle, WA 98104-1610
206.622.3150 main · 206.757.7700 fax
1 2. Amazon devotes extensive efforts to combat product reviews and content that are
2 false, inauthentic, or incentivized (“fake reviews”). Incentivized reviews that are not identified as
3 such are inherently false and misleading because they are motivated by compensation, withhold
4 that key information from consumers, and therefore are likely to mislead consumers into
5 believing they are from unbiased and independent customers. In 2020, Amazon intercepted more
6 than 200 million suspected fake reviews, leveraging machine learning models and teams of
7 employees dedicated to keeping Amazon’s stores free of fake reviews.
8 3. Despite Amazon’s efforts, fake reviews persist because schemes like paying for
9 fake reviews are organized and orchestrated largely on third-party websites such as Climbazon,
10 or in dedicated groups on social media sites, as opposed to within Amazon’s stores where the
11 fake reviews are ultimately posted.
12 4. Amazon is bringing this action against the owners and operators of Climbazon,
13 which sells fake positive and negative product reviews, among other fraudulent services, in order
14 to shut down the Climbazon website and seek disgorgement of Defendants’ ill-gotten gains.
15 5. Defendants’ website offers various deceptive services to Amazon sellers under the
16 rubric of “Review Optimization,” including the sale of “5 star ratings to drown out the
17 naysayers” and services to “vote positive reviews up” and “push negative reviews down” in
18 order to manipulate the seller’s product ranking.1
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https://climbazon.com/ (accessed June 29, 2022).

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12 6. Defendants also advertise other services to Amazon sellers that are intended to
13 mislead both customers and Amazon. For example, Defendants advertise a service to “Delete
14 Negative Reviews”2 and advertise various so-called “Listing Boost” services that post fake
15 content on the seller’s product listing page, such as fake customer questions and answers that
16 Defendants claim will “inspire confidence in [a seller’s] brand.”3
17 7. Defendants know that Amazon has contractual prohibitions against fake reviews
18 and content, and therefore understand that they are incentivizing sellers to violate their contracts
19 with Amazon. Indeed, Defendants hold themselves out as “Amazon experts” and boast that they
20 “know exactly how Amazon works and [they] have all the insider information on how to sell on
21 Amazon successfully.”4 Defendants know and intend that their services improperly manipulate
22 the published ratings and rankings of products listed for sale in Amazon’s stores, resulting in the
23 deception of Amazon’s customers and the erosion of customer trust in Amazon’s stores.
24
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26 https://climbazon.com/dashboard/ (accessed June 17, 2022).
3
Id.
27 4
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1 8. Defendants are actively deceiving Amazon’s customers and tarnishing Amazon’s
2 brand for their own profit, as well as for the profit of dishonest sellers who purchase their
3 services. Through their actions, Defendants intentionally mislead and cause harm to Amazon, its
4 customers, and its honest selling partners. Amazon is bringing this action to protect its customers
5 and honest selling partners from this misconduct by stopping Defendants and shutting down the
6 fake review schemes in which they participate.
7 9. In this action, Amazon brings claims for violations of the Washington Consumer
8 Protection Act (RCW Ch. 19.86) and Washington common law.
9 II. JURISDICTION AND VENUE

10 10. This Court has personal jurisdiction over Defendants, all of whom have conducted
11 business activities in and directed to Washington and are primary participants in tortious acts in
12 and directed to Washington. Defendants affirmatively undertook to manipulate reviews, ratings,
13 and rankings of products sold in stores operated by Amazon, a corporation with its principal
14 place of business in Washington, and posted fake reviews and content in the Amazon.com store
15 (the “Amazon Store”). Amazon employs a team of analysts and data scientists who are primarily
16 based in Washington and analyze product reviews. Defendants’ acts deceived consumers who
17 purchased products in the Amazon Store and harmed Amazon. Defendants knowingly committed
18 or facilitated the commission of tortious acts in and directed to Washington and have wrongfully
19 caused Amazon substantial injury in Washington.
20 11. Personal jurisdiction is also proper in this Court because Defendants consented to
21 exclusive jurisdiction in the state and federal courts of King County, Washington, when they
22 agreed to Amazon’s Conditions of Use in order to create customer accounts, post reviews, and
23 manipulate content in the Amazon Store, among other activities.
24 12. Venue is proper in this Court pursuant to RCW §§ 4.12.010–.025 in that a
25 substantial part of the events or omissions giving rise to the claims pled herein occurred in King
26 County, Amazon seeks damages for personal injury or damage to personal property in King
27
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1 County, and Amazon’s causes of action arose in King County. Venue is also proper because
2 Defendants consented to jurisdiction in this Court as set forth in Paragraph 11.
3 III. THE PARTIES

4 13. Amazon.com, Inc. is a Delaware corporation with its principal place of business
5 in Seattle, Washington. Amazon.com Services LLC is a Delaware company with its principal
6 place of business in Seattle, Washington. Amazon owns and operates the Amazon Store and
7 website and equivalent international stores and websites. Amazon has over three hundred million
8 active customers.
9 14. Defendants sued herein as Does 1-5 own, operate, or maintain Climbazon.com, or
10 are otherwise responsible for Climbazon.com’s operations. Amazon is unaware of the true names
11 and capacities of Defendants sued herein as Does 1–5, and therefore Amazon sues these
12 Defendants by such fictitious names. Amazon will amend this Complaint to allege their true
13 names and capacities when ascertained. Amazon is informed and believes and therefore alleges
14 that each of the fictitiously named Defendants is responsible in some manner for the occurrences
15 alleged and that Amazon’s injuries as alleged were proximately caused by said Defendants.
16 IV. AMAZON’S PRODUCT REVIEW SYSTEM

17 15. Amazon pioneered online customer reviews 25 years ago, and Amazon stores are
18 now home to billions of unique reviews. Reviews provide a forum for customers to share
19 authentic opinions about products—positive or negative. As long as Amazon’s customers abide
20 by Amazon’s Community Guidelines,5 which prohibit illegal, obscene, infringing, and other
21 abusive reviews, they may review and rate any product available in Amazon’s stores, as well as
22 vote on the helpfulness of such reviews and pose questions and answers about products. Amazon
23 does not remove reviews if they are critical of the product; Amazon believes all helpful
24 information relevant to a product can inform its customers’ buying decisions. Honest and
25
26 5
“Community Guidelines,”
https://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=GLHXEX85MENUE4XF (accessed July 1,
27 2022).

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1 unbiased reviews allow customers to trust that they can shop with confidence in Amazon’s
2 stores, and reviews also help fulfill Amazon’s mission to be Earth’s most customer-centric
3 company. In short, Amazon takes the integrity and authenticity of its customer reviews and other
4 content very seriously.
5 16. Amazon encourages its customers to review products available in its stores.
6 Amazon displays these reviews on the detail pages for the products. Consumers rely on these
7 reviews to make informed purchasing decisions. Customers trust that these reviews will be
8 honest, authentic, and unbiased.
9 17. Each product review is comprised of a “star rating” that ranges from one star to
10 five stars and can also include textual comments and product images or video. Amazon compiles
11 these product reviews, summarizes the compiled star ratings, and displays those results alongside
12 the listed product for shoppers to see while they are shopping. An example of product reviews
13 for the Amazon Echo follows:
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12 18. Reviews can impact product sales in multiple ways. Most immediately, positive
13 reviews can encourage customers to purchase a product, and negative reviews can discourage
14 customers from purchasing a product. In addition, reviews can influence a product’s sales
15 ranking: Amazon records and publishes “rankings” of products sold in its stores, which are based
16 on sales. Amazon uses product sales data to create its Best Seller Rank (“BSR”), and also
17 provides best seller lists for categories and subcategories of products. This information is
18 updated hourly to reflect recent and historical sales of nearly every product sold. This
19 information helps consumers understand which products are popular and how their sales are
20 trending, which may help influence shopping decisions. As such, positive reviews can indirectly
21 increase a product’s sales rank.
22 19. Additionally, where a customer decides to sort results of a search by average
23 customer rating, the reviews and star ratings of a product directly impact the order in which that
24 customer sees products, with the product containing the highest average star rating appearing at
25 the top of the list.
26 20. In addition to posting reviews, customers can also “vote” on others’ reviews by
27 marking them “Helpful.” At the bottom of a displayed review, there is a button that a customer
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1 can select titled “Helpful.” By marking a review “Helpful,” a customer indicates the review was
2 helpful in their purchasing decision. Each review on a product listing page indicates how many
3 customers marked the review “Helpful.” “Helpful” votes on a review increase the review’s
4 ranking, meaning the more “Helpful” votes on a review, the further up that review will appear on
5 a product listing page, and the more likely a customer is to read that review.
6 21. Customers can also report a product review as a violation of Amazon’s policies
7 by clicking the “Report abuse” button, which is next to the “Helpful” button at the bottom of
8 each product review. When a customer clicks “Report abuse,” a new “Report abuse” window
9 pops up containing a “Report” button and states: “If you find this content inappropriate and think
10 it should be removed from the Amazon site, let us know by clicking the button below.” When a
11 customer reports abuse, Amazon will investigate the review and, depending on its investigation,
12 may delete the review from the product listing page or take other enforcement action.
13 22. Above the reviews on a product listing page is a section titled “Customer
14 questions & answers.” Amazon customers can post questions about the product being offered,
15 and either the seller or another Amazon customer can then answer the questions. Like product
16 reviews, customers may also “vote” on questions to indicate whether or not the information is
17 helpful, using buttons to vote a question “up” or “down.”
18 V. BUYER AND SELLER POLICIES AGAINST FAKE REVIEWS AND

AMAZON’S PREVENTION EFFORTS
19
23. Amazon strictly prohibits any attempt to manipulate product reviews and
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expressly prohibits compensated reviews and content.
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24. In order to review or post content about a product, an individual must have an
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Amazon customer account. When signing up for an Amazon customer account, the user is
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notified on the “Create Account” screen that “[b]y creating an account you agree to Amazon’s
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Conditions of Use,” and is provided with a hyperlink to Amazon’s Conditions of Use.6 As a
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26 6
“Conditions of Use,”
https://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=GLSBYFE9MGKKQXXM (accessed June 16,
27 2022).

206.622.3150 main · 206.757.7700 fax
1 result, each person who reviews products has agreed to and is bound by Amazon’s Conditions of
2 Use.
3 25. By agreeing to the Conditions of Use, each product reviewer enters into a
4 contractual relationship with Amazon.
5 26. The Conditions of Use provide that in posting content in the Amazon Store, such
6 content is accurate and will not cause injury to any person or entity. The Conditions of Use
7 further prohibit “us[ing] false email address[es], impersonat[ing] any person or entity, or
8 otherwise mislead[ing] as to the origin of . . . content.”7
9 27. Furthermore, any person who uses Amazon’s “community features”—which
10 include “[r]eviews (including star ratings),” “[q]uestions and answers,” and “[h]elpful votes”—
11 agrees to and is bound by Amazon’s Community Guidelines.8
12 28. Amazon’s Community Guidelines prohibit:
13  Creating, editing, or posting content about the seller’s own products or services.
14
 Creating, modifying, or posting content in exchange for compensation of any kind
15 or on behalf of anyone else.
16  Offering compensation or requesting compensation in exchange for creating,

17 modifying, or posting content.9
29. The Community Guidelines also instruct customers that they can report violations
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of the Community Guidelines by using the “Report abuse” link near the content the customer
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wants to report.
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30. Separately, each seller who lists a product for sale in the Amazon Store has
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agreed to and is bound by the Amazon Services Business Solutions Agreement (“BSA”).10
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Id.
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Community Guidelines.
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Id.
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“Business Solutions Agreement,” https://sellercentral.amazon.com/gp/help/external/G1791?language=en_US
27 (accessed June 28, 2022).

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1 31. By agreeing to the BSA, each seller enters into a contractual relationship with
2 Amazon. The BSA incorporates Amazon’s Community Guidelines.
3 32. The BSA also incorporates Amazon’s Customer product reviews policies,11 which
4 expressly warn sellers that they may not offer a financial reward, discount, free products, or other
5 compensation in exchange for a review, and may not offer to provide a refund or reimbursement
6 after the buyer writes a review.
7 33. Amazon’s seller-facing website Seller Central provides additional guidelines to
8 sellers:12
9 If you decide to ask a buyer to leave a review, you may not ask for a positive
review or ask for reviews only from buyers who had a positive experience, nor
10 may you ask customers to change or remove their review, or attempt to influence
the review. For example, you may not offer any compensation for a review,
11 including money or gift cards, free or discounted products, refunds or
reimbursements, or any other future benefits.
12
13 Can I offer a voucher or a free gift?
14 We do not permit reviews or votes on the helpfulness of reviews that are posted in
exchange for compensation of any kind, including any of the following:
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 Payment (including money or gift cards)
16  Refund or reimbursement, including through non-Amazon payment methods
 Free product
17  Entry to a prize drawing or competition
 Discounts on future purchases
18  Other gifts
19 34. Amazon’s Seller Code of Conduct, which is also incorporated into the BSA,
20 makes clear that sellers “may not attempt to influence or inflate customers’ ratings, feedback,
21 and reviews.”13 Among the conduct the Seller Code of Conduct prohibits is “[p]ay[ing] for or
22 offer[ing] an incentive (such as coupons or free products) in exchange for providing or removing
23 feedback or reviews,” “[r]eview[ing] your own products or a competitors’ products,” asking
24
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“Customer product reviews policies,”
25 https://sellercentral.amazon.com/gp/help/external/GYRKB5RU3FS5TURN?language=en_US.
12
“Answers to Questions About Product Reviews,”
26 https://sellercentral.amazon.com/gp/help/external/G201972160?language=en_US (accessed July 1, 2022).
13
“Seller Code of Conduct,” https://sellercentral.amazon.com/gp/help/external/G1801?language=en_US (accessed
27 July 1, 2022).

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1 customers to “remove or change a review,” and “[a]ttempting to damage another Seller, their
2 listings or ratings.”14
3 35. Thus, the contracts that govern sellers’ and customers’ access to the Amazon
4 Store prohibit creating, posting, offering, or soliciting fake reviews or other fake content.
5 36. Unfortunately, at times, dishonest sellers try to gain unfair competitive advantages
6 for their products in Amazon’s stores by paying for false, misleading, and inauthentic customer
7 reviews and content. These reviews and content can significantly undermine the trust that
8 consumers, sellers, and manufacturers place in Amazon, which in turn tarnishes Amazon’s
9 brand.
10 37. Amazon takes the integrity of its customer reviews and content extremely
11 seriously. Amazon’s goal is to detect and remove a fake review and content before a customer
12 ever sees it, and thus Amazon invests significant financial and personnel resources to protect its
13 stores from abuse. As part of its efforts to ensure the authenticity of reviews and content,
14 Amazon has developed sophisticated solutions to detect and remove such reviews and content
15 from its stores. Amazon analyzes reviews that are submitted and continues to scour its stores for
16 published fake reviews and content, stops or removes fake reviews and content when it finds
17 them, and takes enforcement actions against bad actors that post or purchase fake reviews and
18 content.
19 38. Among these enforcement actions, Amazon prevents certain customer accounts
20 that have engaged in fake reviews and content from contributing reviews or other content in the
21 future. Also, when Amazon identifies reviews with fake “Helpful” votes, it investigates further.
22 If the review is authentic but the votes are fake, Amazon will “zeroweight” the votes so that they
23 do not contribute to the review’s ranking on the product listing page.
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1 39. Amazon is constantly innovating to improve its ability to identify and remove
2 fake reviews and other fake content, but when that abuse takes place away from Amazon’s stores
3 bad actors are emboldened to act in direct contravention of Amazon’s policies and the law.
4 VI. DEFENDANTS’ DECEITFUL ACTS

5 40. Beginning at a time unknown to Amazon, but no later than June 2020, Defendants
6 obtained the domain name Climbazon.com, a website through which they operate their illicit
7 business of selling fake reviews and providing additional services to Amazon sellers that
8 manipulate reviews and other content in the Amazon Store.
9 41. Defendants expressly target their services to Amazon sellers. On Climbazon’s
10 home page, Defendants boast that they “know exactly how Amazon works” and that their
11 fraudulent services will “make your Amazon Sales climb!”15 Defendants also claim to have “all
12 the insider information on how to sell on Amazon successfully”16:
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https://climbazon.com/ (accessed June 17, 2022).
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1 42. Defendants offer Amazon sellers various services intended to manipulate their
2 reviews and other content in an effort to manipulate their product rankings. The prices for the
3 services range from $1 to $1,000 (USD).17
4 43. Among the services Defendants advertise are the sale of “5-Star Amazon
5 Ratings.” Defendants tout that their fake 5-star ratings can “increase [sellers’] product ratings
6 fast and lead to increased sales.”18 Defendants promise that the fake positive ratings will have a
7 “verified purchase” tag to give them added legitimacy19:
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17 44. To obtain fake 5-star ratings, a seller submits a link to a product listing page
18 where it wants the fake ratings to be posted. Defendants charge $20 (USD) per fake 5-star rating.
19 On information and belief, Defendants use fake Amazon customer accounts to post (or, in their
20 words, “add”) the fake ratings on sellers’ product listing pages.
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https://climbazon.com/pricing/ (accessed June 17, 2022).
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Id.
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An “Amazon Verified Purchase” review means that Amazon has “verified that the person writing the review
26 purchased the product at Amazon and didn’t receive the product at a deep discount.” See “About Amazon Verified
Purchase Reviews,” https://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=202076110 (accessed June
27 29, 2022).

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1 45. Defendants also advertise an “Attack Competitor”20 service for $1000 (USD) per
2 ASIN.21 On information and belief, as part of this service, Defendants use their customer
3 accounts to post negative product reviews on the competitor’s product listing pages. On further
4 information and belief, Defendants also “attack” a seller’s competitor by, among other means,
5 fraudulently reporting the competitor for violating Amazon policies when it did not, in an
6 attempt to deceive Amazon into de-listing the competitor’s product listing pages or blocking the
7 seller from its stores.
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11 46. Defendants also advertise a service to “Delete Negative Amazon Reviews.”22
12 They purport to use “internal processes” to delete negative reviews and claim a “[r]eview
13 removal success rate” of “around 40%” of the reviews they target.23 The website assures sellers
14 they will only be charged for negative reviews that Defendants successfully delete at a price of
15 $200 (USD) per deleted review.24
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https://climbazon.com/pricing/ (accessed July 21, 2022).
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An “ASIN” is a unique series of ten alphanumeric characters that is assigned to each product listed for sale in
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Amazon’s stores for identification purposes.
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26 https://climbazon.com/dashboard/ (accessed June 17, 2022).
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Id.
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13 47. Defendants’ “Bad Amazon Review Cleaner” service purports to “push a review
14 out of its current page and make it practically invisible to most buyers.”25 Defendants charge $50
15 (USD) per review for this service. Implying that their service can evade Amazon’s detection
16 tools, Defendants claim that the “Review Cleaner” is a “100% safe service.”26 They also promise
17 to refund sellers if a negative review comes “back” on the seller’s primary page within six
18 months from the time of deletion.27
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11 48. Defendants also advertise an “Amazon Review Vote Listing Boost.” Defendants
12 advertise that they will “mark [sellers’] good reviews as helpful and [sic] to push them up and
13 report abuse to push down your bad reviews.”28 Defendants charge $1 (USD) per fake vote and
14 requires sellers to purchase at least 5 fake votes per order.
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1 49. To use the “Amazon Review Vote Listing Boost” service, a seller identifies a
2 specific review on the seller’s product listing page and indicates whether it wants Defendants to
3 place a fake “upvote” or a fake “report abuse.”29 On information and belief, Defendants then use
4 fake customer accounts to vote for positive reviews by marking them as “Helpful,” which pushes
5 the reviews up higher on the product listing page, or to report negative reviews as “abuse” by
6 selecting the “Report abuse” button in an attempt to push negative reviews lower on product
7 listing pages or to deceive Amazon into removing the negative reviews.
8 50. Additionally, Defendants offer other “Listing Boost” services, including a so-
9 called “Question & Answer” service.30 Through this service, Defendants post fake content on the
10 “Customer question & answer” section of a product listing page.31
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19 51. To use the “Q&A” service, a seller provides Defendants with the ASIN of the
20 product where they would like the fake Q&A to be posted. Defendants provide the seller with the
21 option of writing the text of the question and answer themselves. On information and belief,
22 Defendants then post the question on the seller’s product listing page using a fake Amazon
23 customer account. After Defendants post the question, Defendants then answer the same
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https://climbazon.com/qa-customizer/ (accessed June 21, 2022).
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1 question, using what they refer to as “high-quality accounts.”32 On information and belief, these
2 “high-quality accounts” are also fake Amazon customer accounts that Defendants control.
3 52. Upon information and belief, Defendants know that Amazon maintains
4 contractual relationships with sellers.
5 53. Upon further information and belief, Defendants also know that Amazon’s
6 policies (and thus Amazon’s contracts with sellers and product reviewers) prohibit fake reviews
7 and fake content and know and intend that their efforts to encourage fake reviews and fake
8 content will violate Amazon’s policies and will improperly manipulate the published ratings and
9 ranking of products listed for sale in Amazon’s stores.
10 VII. REPUTATIONAL HARM TO AMAZON AND HARM TO THE PUBLIC

11 54. Fake reviews and other fake content significantly undermine the trust that
12 customers, sellers, and manufacturers place in Amazon, which in turn tarnishes Amazon’s brand.
13 55. Product reviews are an important part of a customer’s shopping experience, and
14 customers rely on the accuracy and authenticity of reviews to inform their shopping decisions.
15 Fake reviews harm customers by providing misleading information about the quality,
16 authenticity, and nature of products. When reviews are false, inaccurate, or misleading,
17 customers’ expectations for product quality and performance are not fulfilled. When reviews are
18 not trustworthy, consumers lose confidence in the quality and performance of products and
19 associated ratings in Amazon’s stores and are less likely to purchase products. This loss of
20 confidence damages the goodwill Amazon has built with its customers and harms Amazon’s
21 reputation.
22 56. Fake customer “votes” that mark a review “Helpful,” and fake customer reports of
23 “abuse” about legitimate customer reviews, similarly mislead customers. By manipulating the
24 placement of reviews on a product listing page and attempting to deceive Amazon into removing
25 honest negative reviews, Defendants skew the reviews that are shown to customers, resulting in
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27 32
Id.

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1 further erosion of customer trust in Amazon. Posting fake customer “questions” and “answers”
2 on product listing pages similarly mislead Amazon customers about the quality and performance
3 of products and associated ratings in Amazon’s stores.
4 57. Fake reviews and fake content also threaten to undermine the trust of honest
5 sellers who sell products in Amazon’s stores. When dishonest sellers use fake reviews and fake
6 content to gain a competitive advantage, they harm honest sellers who play by the rules and earn
7 positive reviews by offering high quality products and excellent customer service. In turn, these
8 honest sellers lose faith in the integrity of Amazon’s stores. Multiple sellers have complained to
9 Amazon about fake reviews, with comments like, “It is very disadvantageous to compete with
10 sellers who manipulate the reviews in this way.”
11 58. As a result of reviews abuse perpetuated in Amazon’s stores by bad actors, there
12 has been widespread media and government attention to fake reviews in Amazon’s stores.
13 59. The Wall Street Journal published a story regarding fake reviews in Amazon’s
14 stores on June 13, 2021, titled, “Fake Reviews and Inflated Ratings Are Still a Problem for
15 Amazon.”33 The article focuses on sellers and third parties who encourage reviews abuse against
16 Amazon policies.
17 60. Two days later, Amazon received its first inquiry from Congress, by Senator
18 Roger Wicker, Ranking Member of the Senate Commerce Committee, regarding the work
19 Amazon does to ensure reviews are authentic and inquiring whether reviews abuse in Amazon’s
20 stores detailed in the Wall Street Journal article is widespread.
21 61. Buyers who become aware of these articles and investigations, as well as those to
22 whom bad actors offer incentives to leave fake reviews and other fake content, could lose trust in
23 Amazon as a resource for unbiased product reviews.
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“Fake Reviews and Inflated Ratings Are Still a Problem for Amazon,” Wall Street Journal,
https://www.wsj.com/articles/fake-reviews-and-inflated-ratings-are-still-a-problem-for-amazon-11623587313
27 (accessed June 28, 2022).

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1 62. In sum, as a result of bad actors’ perpetuation of reviews and content abuse,
2 Amazon and its customers have suffered substantial harm.
3
FIRST CLAIM FOR RELIEF
4 Consumer Protection Act (RCW Ch. 19.86)
5 63. Amazon incorporates by reference the allegations of each and every one of the
6 preceding paragraphs as though fully set forth herein.
7 64. Defendants have engaged in unfair and deceptive acts and practices occurring in
8 trade or commerce in violation of the Washington Consumer Protection Act, RCW Ch. 19.86.
9 65. Defendants’ actions were injurious to the public interest. The acts were committed
10 in the course of Defendants’ business and caused the public dissemination of false customer
11 reviews and other false content designed to trick consumers. Defendants’ acts had the capacity to
12 and did harm consumers.
13 66. Defendants’ unfair and deceptive business practices have unjustly harmed
14 Amazon and are causing Amazon to suffer damages.
15 67. Amazon is entitled to treble damages, attorneys’ fees, and costs, pursuant to RCW
16 19.86.090.
17 68. As a result of Defendants’ unfair and deceptive acts and practices, Amazon has
18 also suffered irreparable injury and, unless Defendants are enjoined from such unfair
19 competition, will continue to suffer irreparable injury, whereby Amazon has no adequate remedy
20 at law.
21
SECOND CLAIM FOR RELIEF
22 Breach of Contract
25 70. By signing up for customer accounts in the Amazon Store and posting reviews
26 and other content in the Amazon Store, Defendants have accepted and are bound by Amazon’s
27 Conditions of Use and Community Guidelines.

206.622.3150 main · 206.757.7700 fax
1 71. Amazon fully performed all of its obligations under the Conditions of Use and
2 Community Guidelines.
3 72. Defendants have materially breached Amazon’s Conditions of Use and
4 Community Guidelines by, among other actions, (1) creating fake customer accounts—which
5 Defendants advertise as “high-quality accounts”—for the purpose of evading Amazon’s
6 detection tools and violating Amazon’s policies, (2) requesting and accepting compensation for
7 creating and posting fake reviews and other fake content in the Amazon Store, and (3) posting
8 fake reviews and other fake content in the Amazon Store that are misleading and injurious to
9 others.
10 73. Defendants’ breaches of Amazon’s Conditions of Use and Community Guidelines
11 have resulted in damage to Amazon.
12
THIRD CLAIM FOR RELIEF
13 Intentional Interference with Contractual Relations
16 75. Amazon maintains contracts with each seller of goods in the Amazon Store, as
17 each such seller agreed to the Amazon Services Business Solutions Agreement.
18 76. Amazon maintains contracts with each reviewer of goods in the Amazon Store, as
19 each such user agreed to the Amazon Conditions of Use and Community Guidelines.
20 77. Defendants have knowledge of these contracts and the contractual prohibitions
21 against fake and paid reviews and content, and attempting to damage or abuse other sellers, their
22 listings, or their ratings.
23 78. Defendants intended to disrupt and, with malice and through unfair means, did
24 interfere with the performance of these contracts.
25 79. As a result of Defendants’ actions, Amazon has been harmed.
26
27
206.622.3150 main · 206.757.7700 fax
1
FOURTH CLAIM FOR RELIEF
2 Unjust Enrichment/Restitution
5 81. Defendants unjustly received benefits in the form of payments from Amazon
6 sellers in exchange for their deceptive services, at Amazon’s expense through their wrongful
7 conduct, including their interference with Amazon’s business relationships and other unfair
8 business practices. Defendants continue to unjustly retain these benefits at Amazon’s expense. It
9 would be unjust for Defendants to retain any value they obtained as a result of their wrongful
10 conduct.
11 82. Amazon is entitled to the establishment of a constructive trust consisting of the
12 benefit conferred upon Defendants by the revenues derived from their wrongful conduct at
13 Amazon’s expense and all profits derived from that wrongful conduct. Amazon is further entitled
14 to full restitution of all amounts in which Defendants have been unjustly enriched at Amazon’s
15 expense.
16 PRAYER FOR RELIEF
17 WHEREFORE, Amazon respectfully requests judgment as follows:
18 1. That the Court issue injunctive relief against Defendants and that Defendants,
19 their officers, agents, representatives, servants, employees, attorneys, successors and assigns, and
20 all others in active concert or participation with Defendants be enjoined and ordered to:
21 (a) Cease and desist from selling or facilitating the sale of Amazon reviews
22 and content;
23 (b) Provide information sufficient to identify each Amazon review, each vote
24 left, and all other content created in exchange for payment and the accounts and persons
25 who created or paid for such reviews, votes, and content;
26
27
206.622.3150 main · 206.757.7700 fax
1 (c) Cease and desist from assisting, aiding, or abetting any other person or
2 business entity in engaging in or performing any of the activities referred to in
3 subparagraph (a) above; and
4 (d) Disable the Climbazon.com domain and transfer it to Amazon;
5 2. That the Court enter an Order requiring Defendants to disgorge their profits and
6 declaring that Defendants hold in trust, as constructive trustees for the benefit of Amazon, their
7 illegal profits gained from the sale of fake reviews, fake votes, and other false content, and from
8 the sale of services aimed at manipulating Amazon reviews and product listing pages, and
9 requiring Defendants to provide Amazon with a full and complete accounting of all amounts
10 obtained as a result of Defendants’ illegal activities;
11 3. That the Court enter an Order instructing Defendants, jointly and severally, to pay
12 Amazon’s general, special, actual and statutory damages, including treble damages pursuant to
13 RCW Ch. 19.86;
14 4. That the Court order Defendants to pay Amazon both the cost of this action and
15 attorneys’ fees incurred in prosecuting this action; and
16 5. That the Court grant Amazon such additional and further relief as is just and
17 proper.
18 DATED this 9th day of August, 2022.
19
20 Davis Wright Tremaine LLP

Attorneys for Plaintiffs
21
By /s/ Scott Commerson
22 Scott Commerson, WSBA #58085
865 South Figueroa Street, Suite 2400
23 Los Angeles, CA 90017-2566
Tel: (213) 633-6800
24 Fax: (213) 633-6899
Email: scottcommerson@dwt.com
25
26
27
206.622.3150 main · 206.757.7700 fax
1 /s/ Eric Franz
2 Eric Franz, WSBA #52755
920 5th Avenue, Suite 3300
3 Seattle, WA 98104-1610
Tel: (206) 622-3150
4 Fax: (206) 757-7700
Email: ericfranz@dwt.com
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Filed: 2022 AUG 09 09:00 AM King County Superior Court Clerk E-Filed CASE #: 22-2-12553-5 SEA

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Filed: 2022 AUG 09 09:00 AM King County Superior Court Clerk E-Filed CASE #: 22-2-12553-5 SEA

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1 FILED

2022 AUG 09 09:00 AM

7 SUPERIOR COURT OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON

9 AMAZON.COM, INC., a Delaware corporation;

18 Plaintiffs Amazon.com, Inc. and Amazon.com Services LLC (collectively, “Amazon”)

26 entrepreneurs who sell in Amazon’s stores, and tarnish Amazon’s brand.

7 employees dedicated to keeping Amazon’s stores free of fake reviews.

11 fake reviews are ultimately posted.

18 order to manipulate the seller’s product ranking.1

Davis Wright Tremaine LLP

16 Defendants claim will “inspire confidence in [a seller’s] brand.”3

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6 fake review schemes in which they participate.

8 Protection Act (RCW Ch. 19.86) and Washington common law.

9 II. JURISDICTION AND VENUE

12 and directed to Washington. Defendants affirmatively undertook to manipulate reviews, ratings,

19 caused Amazon substantial injury in Washington.

23 manipulate content in the Amazon Store, among other activities.

24 12. Venue is proper in this Court pursuant to RCW §§ 4.12.010–.025 in that a

2 Defendants consented to jurisdiction in this Court as set forth in Paragraph 11.

3 III. THE PARTIES

16 IV. AMAZON’S PRODUCT REVIEW SYSTEM

19 authentic opinions about products—positive or negative. As long as Amazon’s customers abide

Davis Wright Tremaine LLP

4 content very seriously.

8 honest, authentic, and unbiased.

13 for the Amazon Echo follows:

21 increase a product’s sales rank.

22 19. Additionally, where a customer decides to sort results of a search by average

25 the top of the list.

17 helpful, using buttons to vote a question “up” or “down.”

18 V. BUYER AND SELLER POLICIES AGAINST FAKE REVIEWS AND

Davis Wright Tremaine LLP

4 contractual relationship with Amazon.

8 otherwise mislead[ing] as to the origin of . . . content.”7

9 27. Furthermore, any person who uses Amazon’s “community features”—which

11 agrees to and is bound by Amazon’s Community Guidelines.8

12 28. Amazon’s Community Guidelines prohibit:

16  Offering compensation or requesting compensation in exchange for creating,

Davis Wright Tremaine LLP

2 Amazon. The BSA incorporates Amazon’s Community Guidelines.

6 after the buyer writes a review.

7 33. Amazon’s seller-facing website Seller Central provides additional guidelines to

13 Can I offer a voucher or a free gift?

23 feedback or reviews,” “[r]eview[ing] your own products or a competitors’ products,” asking

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23 do not contribute to the review’s ranking on the product listing page.

Davis Wright Tremaine LLP

4 VI. DEFENDANTS’ DECEITFUL ACTS

8 manipulate reviews and other content in the Amazon Store.

9 41. Defendants expressly target their services to Amazon sellers. On Climbazon’s

12 the insider information on how to sell on Amazon successfully”16:

3 services range from $1 to $1,000 (USD).17

7 “verified purchase” tag to give them added legitimacy19:

20 words, “add”) the fake ratings on sellers’ product listing pages.

Davis Wright Tremaine LLP

7 seller from its stores.