Alibaba 'Brushing' Lawsuit Tackles Alleged Online Sales Inflators

(Beijing) — Alibaba Group Holding Ltd., China's largest e-commerce firm, has sued a "brushing" firm for 2.16 million yuan ($300,000) — its first court case against a business that allegedly helps online merchants artificially boost their transaction volumes and customer ratings by using people posing as buyers.

Shatui, which has four employees, helped to create over 26 million yuan worth of false transactions in two years for 3,000 shops on Taobao and Tmall, Alibaba's two most popular online shopping malls, Alibaba alleged in a lawsuit filed this week.