Amazon sues influencer for alleged fake Instagram project

Today, Amazon filed a lawsuit against an influencer and a range of online businesses for an alleged forgery scheme carried out on Instagram and Amazon’s Marketplace platform. According to the lawsuit filed in Washington state federal court earlier today, influencers advertised counterfeit luxury items on their Instagram page to sell under fake listings on the Amazon Marketplace.

In its complaint, Amazon describes the program as “a sophisticated false advertising campaign designed to evade Amazon’s counterfeit detection tools.”

The complaint is about a Long Island woman named Kelly Fitzpatrick who ran the now-defunct @styleeandgrace Instagram account, exploring what she called the “fool’s world.” Investigators say they purchased 12 different counterfeit items through Fitzpatrick (eight Gucci, four Dior), who typically advertised items on Instagram and directed subscribers to an Amazon link for the final purchase.

Importantly, the Amazon listing usually displays a different post than advertised on Fitzpatrick’s Instagram account. This allowed Fitzpatrick to sell counterfeit products through seemingly legitimate listings, provided buyers were confident they would receive the article from his Instagram page rather than the one on Amazon. As Amazon scans its own platform for fake images, it was often unaware that Instagram posts offered fakes and therefore had no reason to report the list.

Fitzpatrick did not manufacture or ship the counterfeits herself; which fell to a series of Chinese companies, many of which are cited as co-defendants. Fitzpatrick would receive payment through Amazon’s Affiliate Program, which gives influencers and websites (including this one) a small percentage of the purchases they reference. Fitzpatrick was ultimately banned from the program after being linked with counterfeit listings. She launched several other accounts in an attempt to evade the ban, but without success.

The case is brought by Amazon without the assistance of prosecutors, and no criminal charges are associated with the complaint. As a result, the defendants only face pecuniary damages and a permanent ban from the various Amazon platforms. It is the result of the work of the Internal Counterfeiting Crimes Unit, launched in June 2020.

Unit director Cristina Posa described the project as a sign of the dangers of unattended platforms. “These defendants were brazen to promote fakes on social media and undermined the work of legitimate influencers,” she said in a statement. “This case demonstrates the need for cross-sector collaboration in order to drive counterfeiters out of business.”