"Financial Investigation" reporters visited many markets and found that some unscrupulous merchants were playing tricks on the scales, causing consumers to be short-changed when purchasing goods. This kind of electronic scale that is tampered with and there is a deviation between the weighing display and the actual weight is called "ghost scale".
"Ghost scale" weighs less than a kilogram
Consumers were cheated and refused to discuss
In April 2024, the reporter purchased two calibrated standard electronic scales from the relevant measurement authority, came to Yantai City, Shandong Province, and randomly weighed several The electronic scales at the mobile stalls were tested and the phenomenon of "short of pounds" was discovered.
Temporary roadside stalls are in short supply, so in supermarkets with fixed facades, is there no problem with electronic scales? The reporter walked into a store in a community and bought fruit twice in a row. The accuracy of the electronic scale showed deviations.
Electronic scales in daily residential areas are often short of weight. In some hot spots where people gather, the accuracy of electronic scales has even greater deviations. Near Yuhuangding Hospital in downtown Yantai, the reporter came to a stall that sells fruit all year round. The error of the electronic scale here surprised the reporter even more.
After some investigation, the reporter found that the phenomenon of short pounds and short liang has appeared many times in the market in Yantai. Not only in fixed supermarkets and mobile stalls, but also in places where weighing is required, there are varying degrees of under-weighing. Not only reporters have felt the undercurrent of "shortage" in the market, but many consumers have also exposed such problems they encountered on online platforms.
And durian has become the hardest hit area by black-hearted scales.
password? chip? "Ghost scales" add "black technology"
Merchants modifying electronic scales has quietly become popular
In May 2023, the Guizhou Provincial Market Supervision Bureau and the Guiyang Municipal Market Supervision Bureau launched a cleanup operation of electronic scales, and law enforcement officers launched a cleanup operation in multiple markets in Guiyang City Undercover investigation revealed the shady industry of unscrupulous traders modifying electronic scales.
In a small hardware store in Luohanying Comprehensive Wholesale Market in Guiyang City, the owner seemed a little wary about selling this kind of "ghost scale".
This shop owner revealed that buying an ordinary standard electronic scale only costs more than 100 yuan, but after modification, an electronic scale that can realize the weight loss will cost more than 300 yuan. Such a profitable business, not only It is this store, and other store owners in the market are selling these substandard electronic scales privately.
After a female shopkeeper took a scale off the shelf in the market, she could use it directly without any debugging. After turning it on, she pressed twice to enter the password.
When asked how to deal with the problem of consumers finding that they are missing something, the female shop owner said that she can directly turn off the phone or press a specific button.
In addition to demonstrating the "trick" of the electronic scale's transformation to the law enforcement officers undercover, another boss also revealed the secret trick of his electronic scale to avoid "revealing", that is, after pressing the password, the scale will make no sound, and consumers will I can't hear how many kilograms or taels there are.
As law enforcement officers conducted in-depth investigations in several hardware markets in Guiyang, they found that in the current market, not only ordinary substandard electronic scales are sold, but the most popular one is a remote-controlled electronic scale with higher technical content and more secretiveness. .
In a merchant's store, the store owner introduced to reporters a cheating remote control for electronic scales that resembled a car key, and claimed that it was very simple to use.
In addition to the shape of a car key, the shop owner also took out a "cheating pen". Press the button on the pen once, twice, or three times to correspond to the three scale adjustment gears. The fourth press returns the scale to normal. This pen is enough to be fake and real, and it is a pen that can write normally.
The owner of another store in the market was operating and explaining patiently in front of the law enforcement officers who were conducting secret visits. The modification process of these "ghost scales" requires processes such as flashing programs and adding chips.
From taking apart a qualified electronic scale to replacing the chip inside, it only takes a merchant just three or four minutes to create an electronic scale that can be used for cheating at will. The shop owner said that the biggest advantage of this kind of scale that is adjusted by remote control is that it can be operated from a distance and is extremely concealable. The law enforcement officers who were conducting undercover missions also tried it and found that they could indeed control it at will within a range of ten meters.
Law enforcement officers investigated in multiple markets in Guiyang and found that shops selling electronic scales all said they could change the scales.
After investigation and evidence collection by the market supervision departments of Guizhou Province and Guiyang City, modified electronic scales circulating in multiple markets in Guiyang City are roughly divided into two categories:
According to the evidence clues obtained by the undercover investigation, June 3, 2023 The market supervision departments of Guizhou Province and Guiyang City jointly launched a special rectification operation for "short of jins and short liang" in the field of measurement. A total of 1,359 electronic scales were inspected and 36 clues were found for merchants using electronic scales to cheat.
Electronic scale counterfeiting methods have been upgraded.
Electronic scale market rectification still needs to be strengthened.
Although some markets in Guizhou have undergone inspection actions by government departments, the counterfeiting of electronic scales has not stopped. "Financial Investigation" reporters found that someone is selling a higher-tech electronic scale remote control online. These remote controls can not only control their own electronic scales from a long distance, but they can also invade other people's electronic scales at will. program, modifications are made privately.
The reporter searched the Internet and found a manufacturer named Guangzhou Precision Instruments. On the homepage of the manufacturer, the words "specialized in manufacturing remote controls for domestic and foreign floor scales" suddenly appeared.
After adding WeChat, the other party directly sent a video without saying anything, along with text introducing the price and functions of the floor scale remote control.
Merchants claim that their decoders can be used for all weighbridges on the market. Depending on the distance of the control, the prices are 3,600 yuan for a set and 5,200 yuan for a set. Moreover, the decoder is not only effective for weighing large trucks, but also has a significant effect on electronic platform scales.
In addition to remote control technology, there are many merchants on the Internet who have the technology to modify chips, and the price is 1,200 yuan per set. Compared with the physical stores in the hardware market that make and sell ordinary electronic scales, these online companies can be described as professional "cheating companies." After entering the homepages of these companies, each page has the same text and picture content selling cheating devices.
After the reporter added the WeChat accounts of multiple manufacturers, the other parties would quickly pass through, and then quickly send videos, claiming that everything from electronic scales selling vegetables in wet markets to large scales at highway toll stations could be controlled remotely. Merchants also extended invitations to reporters to conduct on-site inspections of their companies before deciding whether to purchase.
The reporter contacted a boss named Zhang on the website. As agreed, the reporter came to a residential community in Fuzhou City, Fujian Province. The location of Boss Zhang’s shop is very hidden and hidden in a residential building in this community. In this room of less than ten square meters, electronic scales of various brands are placed on the shelves, and many electronic scale accessories and tools are piled in the corner. Boss Zhang said that the electronic scale modification was completed here.
Boss Zhang is well aware that modifying electronic scales is illegal, but driven by profit, he still takes risks to make dirty money.
Boss Zhang introduced the "ghost scale" while demonstrating that the remote-controlled "ghost scale" is easy to operate and highly concealable, so it is very popular among customers. Once it is suspected by consumers or inspected by regulatory authorities, just click on it and the "ghost scale" will immediately become an accurate scale.
For "ghost scales" and "black-hearted scales", law enforcement officers from the market supervision department have always been severely investigating and cracking down.
During a special rectification operation for measuring instruments by the Jiaojiang District Market Supervision and Administration Bureau, Taizhou City, Zhejiang Province, plainclothes law enforcement officers inspected a fruit shop in Pingqiao Snack Street, Jiaojiang, and discovered that there was something fishy about the electronic scale. The owner also tried to restore the electronic scale by pressing the buttons. scales.Based on this clue, law enforcement officers followed the clues and found the merchant selling the "ghost scale".
According to statistics, a total of 15 suspected illegal electronic scales were investigated in this case, involving 2 manufacturers and 3 brands. After repeated testing, 13 of them were confirmed to be "ghost scales". The Jiaojiang District Market Supervision Bureau filed a case, and the business owner will also face corresponding penalties for being suspected of modifying electronic scales and disrupting market order.
To crack down on “ghost scales” and build a cleaner, safer, and more secure honest business environment, market regulatory authorities need to continue to increase their efforts to crack down on illegal measurement activities. They need to trace the root causes and thoroughly investigate the illegal activities behind “ghost scales.” Modification business should curb this kind of illegal chaos from the source.
