＂Fake＂ or ＂fake＂？ When justice becomes ＂business＂： professional counterfeiters wandering on the edge of gray

　　? In 1993, the Law of People’s Republic of China (PRC) on the Protection of Consumers’ Rights and Interests was promulgated, in which Article 49 stipulates that if an operator commits fraud in providing goods or services, it shall increase the compensation for the losses it has suffered according to the requirements of consumers, and the amount of the increase in compensation shall be twice the price of the goods purchased by consumers or the cost of receiving services. This is the punitive damages system that first appeared in the Law on the Protection of Consumer Rights and Interests in People’s Republic of China (PRC). Wang Hai, the first professional counterfeiter in China, appeared more than one year after the implementation of the law.

　　? In 2021, the newly revised Food Safety Law of People’s Republic of China (PRC) proposed that if the amount of compensation is less than 1,000 yuan, 1000 yuan can be used. Therefore, food has also become the focus of professional counterfeiters.

　　? In 2013, Article 3 of the Supreme People’s Court’s Provisions on Several Issues Concerning the Application of Laws in the Trial of Food and Drug Disputes states that if a dispute arises over the quality of food and drug, the buyer claims the rights from the producer and seller, and the producer and seller make a defense on the grounds that the buyer still buys the food and drug knowing that there are quality problems, the people’s court will not support it. The expression in the article is no longer "consumer" but "buyer", which also makes many people think that the behavior of "knowing the fake and buying the fake" is recognized.

　　? In 2017, in a reply to professional counterfeiting in the Supreme People’s Court, it was clearly stated that we could consider gradually restricting the profit-making counterfeiting behavior of professional counterfeiters in situations other than buying food and medicine.

　　? In 2019, Article 15 of the Interim Measures for Handling Complaints and Reports in Market Supervision and Management also mentioned that if it is not necessary to buy or use goods or accept services for daily consumption, or it cannot be proved that there is a dispute between consumers and the respondent, the market supervision and management department will not accept it. This method also limits the "professional counterfeiters" to a certain extent.

　　Seeing the familiar cars parked near the store, Shi Gang had some headaches and some helplessness. "The gang is coming again." He hurried to the office and told the staff to take the time to carefully check the goods in the store and deal with the problems in time, but he felt that it would not help.

　　Shi Gang is the manager of a large supermarket in Jinan. What makes him headache is a group of "professional counterfeiters". Professional counterfeiters, a group that appears with the punitive damages system in the Law of People’s Republic of China (PRC) on the Protection of Consumers’ Rights and Interests and the Law of People’s Republic of China (PRC) on Food Safety, are becoming more and more huge in recent years.

　　In the eyes of many people, "counterfeiters" are the embodiment of justice, and when "counterfeiting" is misused as a "business" and becomes a "sharp weapon" for malicious profit, has justice changed its flavor?

　　"Fake" becomes "fake"

　　"Come to the store every month ‘ Sweep ’ A few times, I will hardly return empty-handed. " Shi Gang said, "It’s really no exaggeration. It will come out every few days, some store managers are on the verge of collapse, and a few have resigned. " Shi Gang said that when these professional counterfeiters came to the store, their goal was very clear. They went straight to the "problem" goods, took the checkout, sent them back to Weibo or went directly to the service desk to claim compensation. Most of them were food, and the most common reason for claiming compensation was that the food had expired. "Some of them may have just expired for one or two days, which is very accurate."

　　Li Wei is the person in charge of quality and safety of another supermarket chain in Jinan. Many professional counterfeiters have added WeChat to his mobile phone. For Shi Gang’s statement, he also has a deep understanding. These people add his WeChat just to ask for money. Dealing with professional counterfeiters for a long time, Li Wei has even found out their "origin". "Basically, there are three groups, organized and planned, and usually employ 5-10 people to go to major shopping malls and supermarkets to find ‘ Question ’ Buy it immediately after it is found, and ask the person in charge of the problem for a high fee after the checkout. If the negotiation fails, send it to Weibo or send a video on other platforms, and then match it with the words that are eye-catching, such as ‘ So-and-so supermarket is crazy, selling expired goods to harm ordinary people, not only refusing to return them, but also saying that eating them won’t kill people ’ Waiting for false statements, in fact, they didn’t communicate with us in this respect except for claims. They just used this way to attract the attention of netizens who don’t know the truth on the Internet and forced us to meet their demands through the pressure of public opinion. " Speaking of these people’s practices, Li Wei’s teeth itch with hate, but there is nothing he can do.

　　Li Wei showed reporters a few screenshots of Weibo. Counterfeiters bought expired food in different supermarkets. Except for the time and product name, the text content of rights protection is almost the same. After the purpose of claim is achieved, Weibo will be deleted soon. If you refuse to pay compensation, relevant pictures, texts and videos will not be deleted, and supermarkets may be "missed", and other counterfeiters will make retaliatory claims. It is also for fear of retaliation that Li Wei even dared not send a screenshot of his WeChat transfer to professional counterfeiters to reporters.

　　Li Li’s supermarket is also a large supermarket chain, and the new store has just been targeted by professional counterfeiters for half a month. "We have just opened for half a month, and the goods are all new. How can they be expired?" At first, Li Li refused to pay compensation, but a message of "unscrupulous merchants" quickly appeared on platforms such as Weibo and Tik Tok, and fierce words such as "entrapping ordinary people" and "shocking" attracted people’s attention. At the end of the article, more than a dozen accounts such as @ merchant headquarters, functional departments, major media and Internet V were returned. "The headquarters soon saw it, so let’s eliminate the influence as soon as possible, and worry that the situation will ferment and affect the reputation of the company. Finally, I solved this matter with my own pocket." Li Li said that in the most month, she lost more than 10,000 yuan of professional counterfeiters, which was higher than her salary. "Sometimes I really feel that I can’t do it anymore."

　　"They are not normal counterfeiters." Li Wei told the New Yellow River reporter that these people would take some special measures. For example, take away the temporary food found during the "stepping on the spot", hide it in other areas of the supermarket where goods are not regularly tallied, such as the home appliance area, and then come to see it from time to time, and then come to the supermarket to take the checkout and claim for compensation immediately after it expires. For example, if you buy the food that is about to expire, you will come to the supermarket to buy the same product after it expires, and then you will change the package after checking out, and then claim for compensation. Because the settlement system of major supermarkets can’t identify when the goods are checked out, and the counterfeiters do hold the shopping receipts and goods, the merchants can’t prove their innocence, so they can only recognize the planting. There are also some counterfeiters who will make a fuss about irregular food certificates and labels. "Even if the goods really expire, they won’t all buy one-time checkout, but a single product will be settled separately. For example, if there are three bottles of expired mineral water, then these three bottles will be settled in three orders, and each one will claim 1000 yuan." Li Wei introduced, "Some professional counterfeiters will record the batches when they find the problem goods, and send them to their groups, so that others can go to other supermarkets in the same chain store for counterfeiting, because the purchase channels of each family are the same."

　　Safeguarding rights into "maintaining money"

　　Li Wei said that every single claim for 1000 yuan, professional counterfeiters are based on one of the provisions of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) Food Safety Law: "In the production of food that does not meet food safety standards or the operation of food that is known to be inconsistent with food safety standards, consumers can demand compensation from producers or operators for ten times the price or three times the loss; If the amount of additional compensation is less than 1,000 yuan, it will be 1,000 yuan. However, unless there are flaws in the labels and instructions of food that do not affect food safety and will not mislead consumers. " However, the prices of "problem goods" found by professional counterfeiters in Li Wei are not too high, so whether they know it or not, whether it will mislead consumers, every single claim made by professional counterfeiters is 1000 yuan. "They have a good grasp and don’t want more than a dime."

　　There is no threshold, it is easy to get money, and professional counterfeiting has become a shortcut for many people to get rich. In the post bar of a professional counterfeiter, there are many posts of "counterfeiting and bringing people". There used to be media reporters undercover in the group of professional counterfeiters, and many so-called "masters" were apprentices, with tuition fees ranging from 300 yuan to 1000 yuan. Some people say that it is not a dream to enter 30 thousand a month after starting a career. This statement has also been affirmed by Li Wei. "The leaders of some professional counterfeiters can earn more than 100,000 yuan a month, and the annual income can even exceed one million."

　　What kind of group was the last professional counterfeiter in Zhihu? How do they work? " In the post, this group is described as follows: most professional counterfeiters almost never fake, but among them, the master earns millions of dollars a year. It has even developed into a profession, and mentoring is passed down. They have certain industry and legal knowledge, buy defective products in bulk, and then get several times compensation through reconciliation, complaints, litigation and other channels, and take this as their business. The post also mentioned that they are mainly aimed at large supermarkets and suppliers behind them; Products are mainly well-known brands and imported products; The entangled problems are mainly irrelevant labels and other issues. The reason is nothing more than that big supermarkets and big brands care more about their reputation, and they have certain strength, so it is easier to claim compensation.

　　Shi Gang also agrees that these people are not really defending their rights, but are asking for money by defending their rights. "Some professional counterfeiters did help us find the problem products, which we sincerely accept, but some people just want money. If it is normal rights protection, it should be reasonably negotiated with the supermarket or complained to the regulatory authorities, instead of asking for money directly, and expanding the influence without giving it. "

　　Difficult situation to break.

　　In fact, there have been many voices around professional counterfeiters for more than 20 years since the promulgation of the Law on the Protection of Consumer Rights and Interests in People’s Republic of China (PRC). After careful study, the focus of the debate lies in whether counterfeiters are consumers, how to identify them and how to treat "knowing fakes and buying fakes".

　　"The accurate definition of this group should be ‘ Professional claimant ’ Counterfeiting such as tampering with the production date, replacing expired products, altering forged marks, etc. is illegal, and if the circumstances are serious, it even constitutes a crime and should be punished by law. " Yu Xingqin, a lawyer of Beijing Yingke (Jinan) Law Firm, said that enterprises should dare to use legal weapons to protect their legitimate rights and interests. When encountering extortion by professional counterfeiters, they should call the police at the first time to protect their rights and interests, do a good job of collecting evidence by audio and video recording, and use the power of the police to deter illegal acts. "Don’t let letting things go become the weakness of businesses."

　　If there are illegal acts such as selling expired food and fake and inferior food, the market supervision department will not tolerate them. "The legitimate consumer rights protection with sufficient evidence and clear facts is supported by the law and government departments. This is the proper meaning of social co-governance." The relevant person in charge of the Jinan Municipal Market Supervision Bureau said that when the rights and interests of ordinary consumers are damaged, it is necessary to pay attention to retaining evidence such as consumption vouchers, make complaints through the 12345 hotline or other formal channels in time, and safeguard their legitimate rights and interests according to law. "If the business is true ‘ False ’ There are omissions in food safety management, and even attempts to fish in troubled waters. This behavior will be investigated by the market supervision department and efforts will be made to maintain fair competition order in the market and the legitimate rights and interests of consumers. "

　　"The legitimate production and operation of enterprises must be protected, and the legitimate rights and interests of consumers should be advocated. There is no contradiction and contradiction between the two." Some experts in the industry said that professional counterfeiters claim for their own interests, and "hunting" businesses and even "counterfeiting" obviously deviate from the original intention of legislation and consumer protection, and even have been suspected of committing crimes, which is also contrary to the construction of an honest government. "Their existence has seriously troubled the production and operation order of enterprises, affected the business environment, and abused the rights of complaint reporting, reconsideration litigation, and monitoring complaints, occupying limited administrative and judicial resources. For merchants, ‘ Strike while the iron is hot ’ ; As far as supervision is concerned, it is recommended to be led by the government, and enterprises, online information, public security, market supervision, courts and other departments jointly form a joint effort. Merchants actively seek legal assistance to fundamentally eradicate the breeding ground for chaos. " (At the request of the interviewee, Shi Gang, Li Wei and Li Li are all pseudonyms.)

　　(Jinan Times New Yellow River Client Reporter Cao Yu)