According to China Central Television, a new form of malicious refund has emerged on e-commerce platforms recently: some buyers use artificial intelligence tools to forge images of damaged products and apply for "refund only," causing merchants to suffer double losses in both the product price and shipping costs. This phenomenon has drawn widespread attention, highlighting the new challenges brought about by the abuse of AI technology.
Merchants have expressed their frustration on social media platforms, stating that buyers use AI to "fake damage" to undamaged items such as clothes, cups, or toys, making the images appear cracked or flawed. These forged images are so realistic that it is difficult for merchants to distinguish them from genuine ones. Moreover, even if merchants detect the fake images, some e-commerce platforms' automated review systems may still approve the refund applications, forcing merchants to return the money without recovering the goods.
Experts in law point out that using AI to forge images to obtain refunds is suspected of being illegal. This not only violates the principle of good faith stipulated in the Civil Code, constituting civil fraud, but may also violate the Public Security Administration Punishment Law. If the amount defrauded reaches or exceeds 3,000 yuan, it could even constitute the crime of fraud as stipulated in the Criminal Law.
Facing this challenge, professionals call on regulatory authorities, e-commerce platforms, and merchants to take multiple measures together. Regulatory authorities should improve laws and regulations, add provisions to protect merchants' rights in the E-Commerce Law, and clarify the legal consequences of malicious refund behaviors. At the same time, they should enforce the labeling of AI-generated content and penalize the deletion or tampering of such labels. In addition, it is recommended to establish a cross-platform consumer credit mechanism, incorporating malicious behavior into personal credit records, fundamentally limiting their online activities.
E-commerce platforms need to strengthen their review mechanisms, reduce reliance on AI customer service, increase investment in manual reviews, and extend the review period to provide merchants with sufficient opportunities to present evidence. Technologically, platforms should invest more, using technical means to verify the match between images and actual items, intercepting forged content at the source.
Merchants should also actively protect themselves by optimizing after-sales processes, requiring buyers to provide clear and complete refund evidence, and retaining evidence of product quality through video recordings of the entire packaging and shipping process. If they discover malicious behavior, they should promptly report it to the platform, and in severe cases, directly report to the public security authorities to protect their legitimate rights and interests.
The original intention of AI technology is to improve quality and efficiency, but when it is used for illegal purposes, its destructive impact on the business ecosystem cannot be ignored. Only through the joint efforts of all parties can this new type of online fraud be effectively curbed, and trust between consumers and merchants be rebuilt.
