Live Streaming E-Commerce "Refund Only" Malicious Arbitrage Scam: Professional Scalpers Exploit Fictitious Quality Issues for Free Goods and Drain Merchant Security Deposits

Who Gets Targeted

The victims are primarily micro-merchants and individual self-employed sellers operating live-stream e-commerce on platforms, particularly 65-year-old seniors or startup youth dealing in fresh produce, women's fashion, and beaded jewelry. They generally rely on a single e-commerce platform for survival, and the security deposits ranging from thousands to tens of thousands of yuan that they pay serve as their operational lifeline. Psychologically, they tend to fear platform bias toward buyers, worry that negative reviews will impact store traffic and weight, and lack the time and financial resources for cross-province rights protection. When targeted by professional refunders for freebies, they frequently fall into a desperate predicament of losing both money and goods due to the platform system's mandatory fund deductions.

骗局怎么运作

• Professional refunders scan live-streaming e-commerce zones for micro-merchants with security deposits, specifically selecting low-unit-price, high-frequency consumption categories with high return rates such as apparel, fresh produce, and jewelry. These categories are typically favored by platforms to support buyer-only refunds, making them the prime targets for scalpers who place frantic orders using matrix accounts and exploit platform rule loopholes to scout for easily compromisable targets.
• Upon receiving the goods, the perpetrators immediately initiate a "refund without returning goods" request via platform customer service, exploiting the after-sales mechanisms of major platforms that favor buyers by fabricating reasons such as "damaged goods," "moldy and spoiled," or "counterfeit and substandard." They often attach forged photo evidence or false statements to apply pressure, forcing merchants to agree to refunds and thereby circumventing the return logistics process.
• When merchants refuse refunds or request returns, perpetrators exploit rule loopholes to repeatedly file upgraded complaints with the platform system, exerting pressure with customer service scripts claiming that the merchant's attitude is poor or that they violated the Consumer Rights Protection Act. The platform system's automated reviews and manual interventions often prioritize deducting merchant deposits to advance refunds, enabling perpetrators to obtain refunds and retain the goods without returning them.
• To execute operations at scale, black-market gangs use multiple accounts or purchase other people's identities to register massive numbers of buyer accounts, placing concentrated orders with similar merchants over short periods. With frequencies reaching hundreds or even thousands of orders, they completely drain the merchant deposit pool, plunging merchants into a predicament of having no goods to ship and no money to refund, directly causing cash flow ruptures.
• After securing successful refunds, perpetrators not only keep the goods for themselves to pocket the price difference, but also resell these so-called "refunded goods" at low prices on secondhand platforms, forming a zero-cost procurement black-market closed loop. They even spin off paid communication groups teaching "refund-only freebie hunting" scripts, harvesting unsuspecting novices at scale to continue perpetrating crimes.

红旗信号（看到这些快跑）

• 🚩 The same buyer account or associated accounts place high-frequency, bulk orders against the same category of micro-merchants within a short time frame, with purchase volumes clearly exceeding normal consumption demand, and shipping addresses frequently changing or using fake courier stations.
• 🚩 Buyers apply for "refund only" within seconds of receiving the goods, refusing any form of return communication, declining to present complete unboxing videos or valid quality inspection evidence, and demanding full refunds based solely on hollow text descriptions.
• 🚩 When applying for refunds, buyers skillfully cite specific clauses of the Consumer Rights Protection Act or E-Commerce Law, using standardized scripts to intimidate and coerce merchants, even threatening to report them to regulatory authorities, demonstrating clear characteristics of professional extortion.
• 🚩 Merchant security deposit accounts are frequently and automatically debited by the system, and even after debits, logistics status for massive orders shows buyers have signed for them, yet buyers repeatedly appeal on grounds that items were not received or severely mismatched, with abnormally high appeal approval rates.
• 🚩 Following successful refunds, merchants discover the buyer dumping so-called "problematic" goods at low prices in local or nearby secondhand trading markets, or the same commodity appearing in large quantities on secondhand platforms with seller addresses closely overlapping with returning buyers.

真实案例

• In June 2026, Yangtse Evening Post's Ziniu News reported that a man in Huaibei, Anhui, exploited loopholes in e-commerce refund-only rules, purchasing durians from dozens of online shops nationwide, applying for refunds-only after receipt citing spoilage and then dumping them locally at low prices; partial statistics estimate the involved amount at around 100,000 yuan, with multiple merchants driving thousands of miles to report cases, and the Public Security Bureau's Xiangshan Branch in Huaibei announcing that criminal compulsory measures have been taken against suspect Zhang according to law.
• In June 2026, Sina Finance reprinted an investigation by Xiaoxiang Morning Herald noting that professional scalpers targeted e-commerce platform shipping fee insurance and refund-only rules: individuals registered dozens of accounts to batch-order and then fabricated quality issues to apply for refunds, with single individuals involved in amounts totaling tens of thousands of yuan; police in multiple regions have initiated criminal investigations into such scalping-style fraud.
• In 2026, data from a major e-commerce platform showed that the refund-only policy was abused by certain professional counterfeit hunters, with single individuals frantically shopping over 1,700 orders within 30 days and applying for refunds and returns on all received goods to harvest discounts; their actions caused massive merchant deposits to be frozen and deducted, and the platform has frozen their accounts and transferred them to judicial authorities.
• In June 2026, Yangtse Evening Post's Ziniu News further disclosed that the implicated man specifically targeted high-end durians of major brands and large sizes, mostly air-freighted imports from Thailand and Malaysia, with single fruits easily costing 400 to 500 yuan or even 700 to 800 yuan; upon receipt, he applied for refunds-only citing overripe durians, mold, or alcohol odor, attaching bad fruit photos and videos as evidence while operating across more than a dozen different accounts. (Source: [https://news.qq.com/rain/a/20260626A0BCHY00](https://news.qq.com/rain/a/20260626A0BCHY00))

Official Stance

• In August 2026, CCTV News published multiple special reports exposing the chaotic phenomenon of "refunds only" being ruined by grey markets, calling out malicious cases such as 2,700 malicious orders, and urging major e-commerce platforms to improve review mechanisms to genuinely protect the legitimate rights and interests of small and medium-sized merchants.
• In June 2026, Shanghai police issued a notice regarding a case where a man maliciously refunded over 1,700 orders in more than 20 days, explicitly stating that maliciously exploiting "refund only" rules for illegal profits constitutes suspected fraud, and police will take criminal detention measures according to law and crack down severely.
• In May 2026, China E-Commerce Legal Network issued a specialized warning reminding consumers that frequent operations of online shopping "refund without returning goods" and illegal possession of goods reaching statutory filing standards will lead to criminal detention by public security organs and criminal responsibility pursuit, urging people not to abuse rights protection rules.

How to Protect Yourself

• ✅ Merchants should record video of the entire shipping and packing process during live-streaming e-commerce, and place non-removable exclusive anti-counterfeiting labels inside courier packages. When encountering malicious refunds-only, merchants should submit a complete chain of evidence to the platform and resolutely appeal through manual review channels.
• ✅ Regularly monitor store backend data, marking and intercepting accounts with dense short-term orders, abnormal shipping addresses, and return rates significantly higher than the average. When necessary, proactively contact platform customer service for risk control interception, refusing shipment and reporting suspicious behavior.
• ✅ Do not easily compromise when facing buyers demanding "refunds only," insisting they provide complete unboxing videos and qualified third-party quality inspection reports. For unreasonable frequent refund requests, resolutely appeal through the platform and apply for official intervention handling.
• ✅ Once discovering malicious scalping by professional refunders with large financial losses, merchants should immediately collect order screenshots, chat records, and logistics delivery red-stamp proofs, and drive cross-province or travel nearby to local public security organs to report the crime. Request criminal investigation registration under the suspicion of fraud, rather than relying solely on platform handling.