Filed: 2022 AUG 09 09:00 AM King County Superior Court Clerk E-Filed CASE #: 22-2-12552-7 SEA

1 FILED
2022 AUG 09 09:00 AM

2 KING COUNTY
SUPERIOR COURT CLERK
3 E-FILED
CASE #: 22-2-12552-7 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 Virtualexperts.net,
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 Virtualexperts.net (“Virtual Experts”), for injunctive relief and damages as
21 follows:
22 I. SUMMARY
23 1. Every day, millions of consumers who shop in Amazon’s stores use customer
24 product reviews to assist with purchasing decisions. Customer trust and fair competition in
25 Amazon’s stores depend, in part, on the authenticity of those reviews. The bad actors who pay
26 for product reviews erode that customer trust, compete unfairly with the millions of honest
27 entrepreneurs who sell in Amazon’s stores, and tarnish Amazon’s brand.

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 Virtual
10 Experts, or in dedicated groups on social media sites, as opposed to within Amazon’s stores
11 where the fake reviews are ultimately posted.
12 4. Amazon is bringing this action against the owners and operators of Virtual
13 Experts, which sells fake positive and negative product reviews, among other fraudulent
14 services, in order to shut down the Virtual Experts website and seek disgorgement of
15 Defendants’ ill-gotten gains.
16 5. Defendants claim that Virtual Experts is a “well-known USA-based Amazon
17 FBA/Kindle & Digital Marketing Agency” and offers “Amazon Marketing Services” to sellers to
18 “boost their sales and brand value.”1 Defendants offer more than 20 different services aimed at
19 Amazon sellers, including the sale of fake positive or negative Amazon product reviews,
20 removing the “worst” Amazon reviews from the first page of a seller’s product listing, and
21 providing fake “helpful votes” on positive reviews and other fake positive content, such as
22 posting fake customer questions and answers, on a seller’s product listing page.2
23 6. Defendants know that Amazon has contractual prohibitions against fake reviews
24 and content, and admit that they stay “up to date” with their knowledge of “Amazon’s Terms &
25
26
1
https://virtualexperts.net/ (accessed June 22, 2022).
27 2
https://virtualexperts.net/services (accessed June 22, 2022).

206.622.3150 main · 206.757.7700 fax
1 Conditions.”3 Defendants thus understand that they are incentivizing sellers to violate their
2 contracts with Amazon through their sale of fake reviews and other fake content. Defendants
3 know and intend that their services will improperly manipulate the published ratings and
4 rankings of products listed for sale in Amazon’s stores, resulting in the deception of Amazon’s
5 customers and the erosion of customer trust in Amazon’s stores.
6 7. Defendants assure sellers that they can circumvent Amazon’s policies and evade
7 Amazon’s enforcement mechanisms. For example, Virtual Experts’ “About” page explains why
8 Virtual Experts is unique and assures sellers, among other things, that it offers “100% Privacy &
9 Protection,” that it has “50+ different computers with Different MAC & IP addresses,” and that
10 “[w]e always Exchange Browsers & Delete Cookies”:4
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
3
https://virtualexperts.net/about (accessed June 22, 2022).
27 4
Id.

206.622.3150 main · 206.757.7700 fax
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
206.622.3150 main · 206.757.7700 fax
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 Virtualexperts.net,
10 or are otherwise responsible for Virtualexperts.net’s operations. Amazon is unaware of the true
11 names 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).

206.622.3150 main · 206.757.7700 fax
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:
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
206.622.3150 main · 206.757.7700 fax
1
10
11
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
206.622.3150 main · 206.757.7700 fax
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
20
expressly prohibits compensated reviews and content.
21
24. In order to review or post content about a product, an individual must have an
22
Amazon customer account. When signing up for an Amazon customer account, the user is
23
notified on the “Create Account” screen that “[b]y creating an account you agree to Amazon’s
24
Conditions of Use,” and is provided with a hyperlink to Amazon’s Conditions of Use.6 As a
25
26 6
“Conditions of Use,”
https://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=GLSBYFE9MGKKQXXM (accessed June 30,
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 e-mail 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

or on behalf of anyone else.
15
16  Offering compensation or requesting compensation in exchange for creating,

modifying, or posting content.9
17
18 29. The Community Guidelines also instruct customers that they can report violations
19 of the Community Guidelines by using the “Report abuse” link near the content the customer
20 wants to report.
21 30. Separately, each seller who lists a product for sale in the Amazon Store has
10
22 agreed to and is bound by the Amazon Services Business Solutions Agreement (“BSA”).
23
24
7
Id.
25 8
Community Guidelines.
26 9
Id.
10
“Business Solutions Agreement,” https://sellercentral.amazon.com/gp/help/external/G1791?language=en_US
27 (accessed June 28, 2022).

206.622.3150 main · 206.757.7700 fax
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:
15
 Payment (including money or gift cards)
16  Refund or reimbursement, including through non-Amazon payment methods
17  Free product
 Entry to a prize drawing or competition
18  Discounts on future purchases
 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
24
11
“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).

206.622.3150 main · 206.757.7700 fax
1 feedback or reviews,” “[r]eview[ing] your own products or a competitors’ products,” asking
2 customers to “remove or change a review,” and “[a]ttempting to damage another Seller, their
3 listings or ratings.”14
4 35. Thus, the contracts that govern sellers’ and customers’ access to the Amazon
5 Store prohibit creating, posting, offering, or soliciting fake reviews or other fake content.
6 36. Unfortunately, at times, dishonest sellers try to gain unfair competitive advantages
7 for their products in Amazon’s stores by paying for false, misleading, and inauthentic customer
8 reviews and content. These reviews and content can significantly undermine the trust that
9 consumers, sellers, and manufacturers place in Amazon, which in turn tarnishes Amazon’s
10 brand.
11 37. Amazon takes the integrity of its customer reviews and content extremely
12 seriously. Amazon’s goal is to detect and remove a fake review and content before a customer
13 ever sees it, and thus Amazon invests significant financial and personnel resources to protect its
14 stores from abuse. As part of its efforts to ensure the authenticity of reviews and content,
15 Amazon has developed sophisticated solutions to detect and remove such reviews and content
16 from its stores. Amazon analyzes reviews that are submitted and continues to scour its stores for
17 published fake reviews and content, stops or removes fake reviews and content when it finds
18 them, and takes enforcement actions against bad actors that post or purchase fake reviews and
19 content.
20 38. Among these enforcement actions, Amazon prevents certain customer accounts
21 that have engaged in fake reviews and content from contributing reviews or other content in the
22 future. Also, when Amazon identifies reviews with fake “Helpful” votes, it investigates further.
23 If the review is authentic but the votes are fake, Amazon will “zeroweight” the votes so that they
24 do not contribute to the review’s ranking on the product listing page.
25
26
27 14
Id.

206.622.3150 main · 206.757.7700 fax
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
3 stores, bad actors are emboldened to act in direct contravention of Amazon’s policies and the
4 law.
5 VI. DEFENDANTS’ DECEITFUL ACTS

6 40. Beginning at a time unknown to Amazon, Defendants obtained the domain name
7 VirtualExperts.net, a website through which they operate their illicit business of selling fake
8 reviews and providing additional services to Amazon sellers that manipulate reviews and other
9 content in Amazon’s stores, among other unfair and deceptive services.
10 41. Defendants expressly target their services to Amazon sellers. On Virtual Experts’
11 home page, Defendants advertise their so-called “Listing Optimization Services” to Amazon
12 sellers and promise sellers that Defendants will help them deal with their “Worst Amazon
13 Reviews”:15
14
15
16
17
18
19
20 42. Through Virtual Experts, sellers pay Defendants for various services aimed at
21 fraudulently manipulating the reviews and other content on a sellers’ product listing page.16
22
23
24
25
26
15
https://virtualexperts.net/ (accessed June 22, 2022).
27 16

206.622.3150 main · 206.757.7700 fax
1 Among the services Virtual Experts advertises are “Amazon Verified Reviews,”17 a service by
2 which Defendants post fake positive reviews on a seller’s product listing page.18
3 On information and belief, Defendants use fake customer accounts to post the reviews.
4 Defendants charge sellers $30 (USD) per “regular review,” $100 (USD) per “video review,” and
5 $150 (USD) per review from a purported “Top 50 Reviewer.” Virtual Experts advertises that it
6 will post the review within 10 to 20 days of the seller’s purchase.
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20 43. Defendants also advertise a “Competitor Protection/Attack” service.19 In

21 exchange for a fee, Defendants “attack” a seller’s competitor by, among other means, calling
22 Amazon to fraudulently report the competitor for violating Amazon policies when it did not, in
23 an attempt to deceive Amazon into de-listing the competitor’s product listing pages. On
24
17
An “Amazon Verified Purchase” review means that Amazon has “verified that the person writing the review
25 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
26 29, 2022).
18
27 19
Id.
206.622.3150 main · 206.757.7700 fax
1 information and belief, as part of the “Competitor Protection/Attack” service, Defendants use
2 their customer accounts to post negative product reviews on the competitor’s product listing
3 pages.
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17 44. Defendants also advertise “Amazon Kindle Verified Reviews,” a service that
18 consists of Defendants posting fake customer reviews on a seller’s Kindle book page.20 For this
19 service, Virtual Experts charge sellers $25 (USD) per “regular review” and $100 (USD) per
20 review from a supposed “Top 50 Reviewer.”
21
22
23
24
25
26
27 20
Id. The Kindle is Amazon’s portable wireless electronic reading device.

206.622.3150 main · 206.757.7700 fax
1
10
11
12 45. Defendants also advertise a “Question & Answer” service where they post fake
13 content on the “Customer question & answer” section of a seller’s product listing page.21
14 Customer questions and answers help Amazon customers make more informed purchase
15 decisions, and provide sellers a means to differentiate their listings.
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27 21
Id.

206.622.3150 main · 206.757.7700 fax
1 46. For the price of $10 per “Q&A,” Defendants claim to use “real buyers” to post
2 questions and answers in the “Q&A” section of a seller’s product listing page, and further
3 promise that such questions and answers will be posted “from high-quality accounts at a regular
4 speed.”22 On information and belief, the “high-quality accounts” Defendants post from are fake
5 Amazon customer accounts operated by Defendants.
6 47. Defendants also advertise a service called “Amazon Helpful Votes.” 23 For 60
7 cents per vote, Defendants mark a seller’s selected positive review as “Helpful,” which pushes
8 that review higher on the product listing page and makes it more likely that a customer will view
9 it.
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
48. Similarly, Defendants advertise a service called “Report Abuse” where, for $5 per
22
review, Defendants will “report abuse” on a selected negative review, which they assert “may
23
trigger Amazon’s bots to delete [that] review.”24
24
25
22
26 Id.
23
Id.
27 24
Id.

206.622.3150 main · 206.757.7700 fax
1
10
11
12
13 49. Defendants also advertise a service called “Remove Negative Amazon Reviews
14 from 1st Page.”25 Defendants promise to bump negative reviews from the first page of a product
15 listing page, making it less likely that a customer will see the negative review. A video on
16 Virtual Experts’ YouTube page titled “How to Remove Bad or Negative Reviews on Amazon”
17 assures sellers that with this service, “traffic will come to your Amazon listing.”26 Defendants
18 charge $500 or more per ASIN for this service.27
19
20
21
22
23
24
25 25
Id.
26 26
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5rtJzb50hpM (accessed June 23, 2022).
27
An “ASIN” is a unique series of ten alphanumeric characters that is assigned to each product listed for sale on
27 Amazon’s stores for identification purposes.

206.622.3150 main · 206.757.7700 fax
1
10
11
12
50. Defendants admit that they are “up to date” with their knowledge of Amazon’s
13
policies, and advertise methods that Defendants use to circumvent Amazon’s policies and
14
contracts with sellers.28
15
51. As shown by the methods Defendants advertise to evade Amazon’s detection and
16
enforcement mechanisms, Defendants also know that Amazon’s policies (and thus Amazon’s
17
contracts with sellers and product reviewers) prohibit fake reviews and fake content and know
18
and intend that their efforts to encourage fake reviews and fake content will violate Amazon’s
19
policies and will improperly manipulate the published ratings and ranking of products listed for
20
sale in the Amazon Store.
21
22 VII. REPUTATIONAL HARM TO AMAZON AND HARM TO THE PUBLIC

52. Fake reviews and other fake content significantly undermine the trust that
23
customers, sellers, and manufacturers place in Amazon, which in turn tarnishes Amazon’s brand.
24
53. Product reviews are an important part of a customer’s shopping experience, and
25
customers rely on the accuracy and authenticity of reviews to inform their shopping decisions.
26
27 28
https://virtualexperts.net/about (accessed June 22, 2022).
206.622.3150 main · 206.757.7700 fax
1 Fake reviews harm customers by providing misleading information about the quality,
2 authenticity, and nature of products. When reviews are false, inaccurate, or misleading,
3 customers’ expectations for product quality and performance are not fulfilled. When reviews are
4 not trustworthy, consumers lose confidence in the quality and performance of products and
5 associated ratings in Amazon’s stores and are less likely to purchase products. This loss of
6 confidence damages the goodwill Amazon has built with its customers and harms Amazon’s
7 reputation.
8 54. Fake customer “votes” that mark a review “Helpful,” and fake customer reports of
9 “abuse” about legitimate customer reviews, similarly mislead customers. By manipulating the
10 placement of reviews on a product listing page and attempting to deceive Amazon into removing
11 honest negative reviews, Defendants skew the reviews that are shown to customers, resulting in
12 further erosion of customer trust in Amazon. Posting fake customer “questions” and “answers”
13 on product listing pages similarly mislead Amazon customers about the quality and performance
14 of products and associated ratings in Amazon’s stores.
15 55. Fake reviews and fake content also threaten to undermine the trust of honest
16 sellers who sell products in Amazon’s stores. When dishonest sellers use fake reviews and fake
17 content to gain a competitive advantage, they harm honest sellers who play by the rules and earn
18 positive reviews by offering high quality products and excellent customer service. In turn, these
19 honest sellers lose faith in the integrity of Amazon’s stores. Multiple sellers have complained to
20 Amazon about fake reviews, with comments like, “It is very disadvantageous to compete with
21 sellers who manipulate the reviews in this way.”
22 56. As a result of reviews abuse perpetuated in Amazon’s stores by bad actors, there
23 has been widespread media and government attention to fake reviews in Amazon’s stores.
24 57. The Wall Street Journal published a story regarding fake reviews in Amazon’s
25 stores on June 13, 2021, titled, “Fake Reviews and Inflated Ratings Are Still a Problem for
26
27
206.622.3150 main · 206.757.7700 fax
1 Amazon.”29 The article focuses on sellers and third parties who encourage reviews abuse against
2 Amazon policies.
3 58. Two days later, Amazon received its first inquiry from Congress, by Senator
4 Roger Wicker, Ranking Member of the Senate Commerce Committee, regarding the work
5 Amazon does to ensure reviews are authentic and inquiring whether reviews abuse in Amazon’s
6 stores detailed in the Wall Street Journal article is widespread.
7 59. Buyers who become aware of these articles and investigations, as well as those to
8 whom bad actors offer incentives to leave fake reviews and other fake content, could lose trust in
9 Amazon as a resource for unbiased product reviews.
10 60. In sum, as a result of bad actors’ perpetuation of reviews and content abuse,
11 Amazon and its customers have suffered substantial harm.
12
FIRST CLAIM FOR RELIEF
13 Consumer Protection Act (RCW Ch. 19.86)
14 61. Amazon incorporates by reference the allegations of each and every one of the
15 preceding paragraphs as though fully set forth herein.
16 62. Defendants have engaged in unfair and deceptive acts and practices occurring in
17 trade or commerce in violation of the Washington Consumer Protection Act, RCW Ch. 19.86.
18 63. Defendants’ actions were injurious to the public interest. The acts were committed
19 in the course of Defendants’ business and caused the public dissemination of false customer
20 reviews and other false content designed to trick consumers. Defendants’ acts had the capacity to
21 and did harm consumers.
22 64. Defendants’ unfair and deceptive business practices have unjustly harmed
23 Amazon and are causing Amazon to suffer damages.
24
25
26 29
“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 July 1, 2022).

206.622.3150 main · 206.757.7700 fax
1 65. Amazon is entitled to treble damages, attorneys’ fees, and costs, pursuant to RCW
2 19.86.090.
3 66. As a result of Defendants’ unfair and deceptive acts and practices, Amazon has
4 also suffered irreparable injury and, unless Defendants are enjoined from such unfair
5 competition, will continue to suffer irreparable injury whereby Amazon has no adequate remedy
6 at law.
7
SECOND CLAIM FOR RELIEF
8 Breach of Contract
11 68. By signing up for customer accounts in the Amazon Store and posting reviews
12 and other content in the Amazon Store, Defendants have accepted and are bound by Amazon’s
13 Conditions of Use and Community Guidelines
14 69. Amazon fully performed all of its obligations under the Conditions of Use and
15 Community Guidelines.
16 70. Defendants have materially breached Amazon’s Conditions of Use and
17 Community Guidelines by, among other actions, (1) creating fake customer accounts—which
18 Defendants advertise as “high-quality” customer accounts—for the purpose of evading
19 Amazon’s detection tools and violating Amazon’s policies, (2) requesting and accepting
20 compensation for creating and posting fake reviews and other fake content in the Amazon Store,
21 and (3) posting fake reviews and other fake content in the Amazon Store that are misleading and
22 injurious to others.
23 71. Defendants’ breaches of Amazon’s Conditions of Use and Community Guidelines
24 have resulted in damage to Amazon.
25
26
27
206.622.3150 main · 206.757.7700 fax
1
THIRD CLAIM FOR RELIEF
2 Intentional Interference with Contractual Relations
5 73. Amazon maintains contracts with each seller of goods in the Amazon Store, as
6 each such seller agreed to the Amazon Services Business Solutions Agreement.
7 74. Amazon maintains contracts with each reviewer of goods in the Amazon Store, as
8 each such user agreed to the Amazon Conditions of Use and Community Guidelines.
9 75. Defendants have knowledge of these contracts and the contractual prohibitions
10 against fake and paid reviews and content, and attempting to damage or abuse other sellers, their
11 listings, or their ratings.
12 76. Defendants intended to disrupt and, with malice and through unfair means, did
13 interfere with the performance of these contracts.
14 77. As a result of Defendants’ actions, Amazon has been harmed.
15
FOURTH CLAIM FOR RELIEF
16 Unjust Enrichment/Restitution
19 79. Defendants unjustly received benefits in the form of payments from Amazon
20 sellers in exchange for their deceptive services, at Amazon’s expense through their wrongful
21 conduct, including their interference with Amazon’s business relationships and other unfair
22 business practices. Defendants continue to unjustly retain these benefits at Amazon’s expense. It
23 would be unjust for Defendants to retain any value they obtained as a result of their wrongful
24 conduct.
25 80. Amazon is entitled to the establishment of a constructive trust consisting of the
26 benefit conferred upon Defendants by the revenues derived from their wrongful conduct at
27 Amazon’s expense and all profits derived from that wrongful conduct. Amazon is further entitled
206.622.3150 main · 206.757.7700 fax
1 to full restitution of all amounts in which Defendants have been unjustly enriched at Amazon’s
2 expense.
3 PRAYER FOR RELIEF
4 WHEREFORE, Amazon respectfully requests judgment as follows:
5 1. That the Court issue injunctive relief against Defendants and that Defendants,
6 their officers, agents, representatives, servants, employees, attorneys, successors and assigns, and
7 all others in active concert or participation with Defendants be enjoined and ordered to:
8 (a) Cease and desist from selling or facilitating the sale of Amazon reviews
9 and content;
10 (b) Provide information sufficient to identify each Amazon review, each vote
11 left, and all other content created in exchange for payment and the accounts and persons
12 who created or paid for such reviews, votes, and content;
13 (c) Cease and desist from assisting, aiding, or abetting any other person or
14 business entity in engaging in or performing any of the activities referred to in
15 subparagraph (a) above; and
16 (d) Disable the Virtualexperts.net domain and transfer it to Amazon;
17 2. That the Court enter an Order requiring Defendants to disgorge their profits and
18 declaring that Defendants hold in trust, as constructive trustees for the benefit of Amazon, their
19 illegal profits gained from the sale of fake reviews, fake votes, and other false content, and from
20 the sale of services aimed at manipulating Amazon reviews and product listing pages, and
21 requiring Defendants to provide Amazon with a full and complete accounting of all amounts
22 obtained as a result of Defendants’ illegal activities;
23 3. That the Court enter an Order instructing Defendants, jointly and severally, to pay
24 Amazon’s general, special, actual and statutory damages, including treble damages pursuant to
25 RCW Ch. 19.86;
26 4. That the Court order Defendants to pay Amazon both the cost of this action and
27 attorneys’ fees incurred in prosecuting this action; and

206.622.3150 main · 206.757.7700 fax
1 5. That the Court grant Amazon such additional and further relief as is just and
2 proper.
3 DATED this 9th day of August, 2022.
4 Davis Wright Tremaine LLP

5 Attorneys for Plaintiffs
6 By /s/ Scott Commerson

Scott Commerson, WSBA #58085
7 865 South Figueroa Street, Suite 2400
Los Angeles, CA 90017-2566
8 Tel: (213) 633-6800
Fax: (213) 633-6899
9 Email: scottcommerson@dwt.com
10 /s/ Eric Franz
Eric Franz, WSBA #52755
11 920 5th Avenue, Suite 3300
Seattle, WA 98104-1610
12 Tel: (206) 622-3150
Fax: (206) 757-7700
13 Email: ericfranz@dwt.com
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
206.622.3150 main · 206.757.7700 fax

Filed: 2022 AUG 09 09:00 AM King County Superior Court Clerk E-Filed CASE #: 22-2-12552-7 SEA

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Description:

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Filed: 2022 AUG 09 09:00 AM King County Superior Court Clerk E-Filed CASE #: 22-2-12552-7 SEA

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

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”)

27 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 where the fake reviews are ultimately posted.

15 Defendants’ ill-gotten gains.

16 5. Defendants claim that Virtual Experts is a “well-known USA-based Amazon

Davis Wright Tremaine LLP

5 customers and the erosion of customer trust in Amazon’s stores.

10 “[w]e always Exchange Browsers & Delete Cookies”:4

Davis Wright Tremaine LLP

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:

14  Creating, modifying, or posting content in exchange for compensation of any kind

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?

Davis Wright Tremaine LLP

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

Davis Wright Tremaine LLP

5 VI. DEFENDANTS’ DECEITFUL ACTS

9 content in Amazon’s stores, among other unfair and deceptive services.

Davis Wright Tremaine LLP

6 will post the review within 10 to 20 days of the seller’s purchase.

20 43. Defendants also advertise a “Competitor Protection/Attack” service.19 In

20 review from a supposed “Top 50 Reviewer.”

Davis Wright Tremaine LLP

15 decisions, and provide sellers a means to differentiate their listings.

Davis Wright Tremaine LLP

5 Amazon customer accounts operated by Defendants.

Davis Wright Tremaine LLP

18 charge $500 or more per ASIN for this service.27

Davis Wright Tremaine LLP

22 VII. REPUTATIONAL HARM TO AMAZON AND HARM TO THE PUBLIC

14 of products and associated ratings in Amazon’s stores.

21 sellers who manipulate the reviews in this way.”

6 stores detailed in the Wall Street Journal article is widespread.

9 Amazon as a resource for unbiased product reviews.

11 Amazon and its customers have suffered substantial harm.