Recently, the reporter visited many markets and found that there are some unscrupulous merchants who do tricks and feet on the scales, resulting in a shortage of catties and catties when consumers buy goods. This kind of electronic scale that is manipulated and has a deviation between the weighing display and the actual weight is called a "ghost scale".
The "ghost scale" weighs and is short of two catties
Consumers are pitted and not negotiated
In April 2024, the reporter purchased two calibrated standard electronic scales from the relevant measurement authorities, came to Yantai City, Shandong Province, and randomly tested the electronic scales of several mobile booths, and found that there was a shortage of catties.
The reporter walked into a store in a community and bought fruit twice in a row, and the accuracy of the electronic scale was deviated.
The phenomenon of the shortage of electronic scales in daily residential areas is so, and in some hot spots where people gather, the accuracy of electronic scales has a greater deviation. Near Yuhuangding Hospital in Yantai City, the reporter came to a stall that sells fruits all year round, and the error of the electronic scale here surprised the reporter even more.
After some investigation, the reporter found that the phenomenon of shortage of catties and shortages has appeared many times in the market in Yantai. Not only fixed supermarkets and mobile stalls, as long as there is a place that needs to be weighed, there are different degrees of less scales. Not only did the reporter feel the undercurrent in the market, but many consumers also exposed the problems they encountered on the online platform.
And durian has become the hardest hit area of the black-hearted scale.
"Ghost Scale" adds "black technology"
Businesses have quietly become a trend to modify electronic scales
In May 2023, the Guizhou Provincial Market Supervision Bureau and the Guiyang Municipal Market Supervision Bureau launched a clean-up operation for electronic scales, and law enforcement officers launched unannounced investigations in multiple markets in Guiyang City, uncovering the shady industry of illegal traders modifying electronic scales.
In a small hardware shop in the Luohanying Comprehensive Wholesale Market in Guiyang City, the owner has some scruples about selling this kind of "ghost scale".
The shopkeeper revealed that the price of buying an ordinary standard electronic scale is only more than 100 yuan, but after transformation, it will take more than 300 yuan to realize the shortage of electronic scales. With such a good profit, not only this store, but also other shopkeepers in the market are privately selling these substandard electronic scales.
After a female shopkeeper in the market took down a scale from the shelf, she didn't need any debugging, and she could use it directly by pressing the password twice after turning it on.
When asked how to deal with the problem of consumers finding that they are missing two pounds, the female shopkeeper said that she could directly turn off the phone or press a specific button.
Another boss in addition to the unannounced law enforcement officers to demonstrate the "trick" of the transformation of the electronic scale, but also revealed his electronic scale to avoid the "stuffing" trick, that is, after pressing the password, the scale has no sound, and consumers can not hear a few catties and taels.
With the deepening of the investigation, we found that in the current market, not only ordinary unqualified electronic scales are sold, but the most popular is a remote control electronic scale with higher technical content and stronger privacy.
In a merchant's store, the owner introduced to the reporter a cheating remote control that resembles a car key for electronic scales, and claimed that it is very simple to use.
In addition to the shape of the car key, the shopkeeper also took out a "cheat pen", and the button on the pen was pressed once, twice, and three times, and the effect of adjusting the scale varied. Press the fourth click to return the scale to normal. This pen is enough to make the real thing happen, and it is a pen that can write normally.
The owner of another shop in the market patiently explained while operating in front of the unannounced law enforcement officers. The modification process of these "ghost scales" needs to go through processes such as brushing programs and adding chips.
From disassembling the qualified electronic scale to replacing the chip inside, the merchant only needs three or four minutes, and an electronic scale that can cheat at will is completed. The owner said that the biggest advantage of this kind of scale adjusted by remote control is that it can be operated from a long distance and has a high degree of concealment. The law enforcement officers who carried out the unannounced mission also tried it, and they could indeed control it at will within a range of ten meters.
Law enforcement officers investigated in a number of markets in Guiyang and found that these shops selling electronic scales said that they could change their scales.
After the investigation and evidence collection of the market supervision departments at the two levels of Guizhou Province and Guiyang City, the modified electronic scales circulating in many markets in Guiyang City are roughly divided into two types:
According to the evidence and clues obtained by the unannounced investigation, on June 3, 2023, the market supervision departments of Guizhou Province and Guiyang City jointly carried out a special rectification action in the field of measurement. A total of 1,359 electronic scales were inspected, and 36 clues were found that merchants used electronic scales to cheat.
Electronic scale counterfeiting methods have been upgraded
The rectification of the electronic scale market still needs to be strengthened
Although some markets in Guizhou have been cleared by government departments, the counterfeiting of electronic scales has not ended. The reporter found that some people on the Internet are selling a higher technology electronic scale remote control, these remote controls, not only can remotely control their own electronic scales, even other people's electronic scales, they can also invade each other's programs at will, and modify them privately.
The reporter searched through the Internet to find a manufacturer called Guangzhou Precision Instrument, and the homepage of the manufacturer appeared on the homepage of "specializing in the manufacture of domestic and foreign weighbridge supporting remote control".
After adding WeChat, the other party didn't say a word, and directly sent a video, with a text introducing the price and function of the weighbridge remote control.
Merchants claim that their decoders can be used for weighbridges on the market, and the prices are 3,600 yuan and 5,200 yuan respectively depending on the distance of control. Moreover, the decoder is not only effective for large trucks to weigh, but also has a significant effect on electronic bench scales.
In addition to remote control technology, there are many businesses on the Internet that have the technology to modify chips, and the price is 1200 yuan a set. Compared with the brick-and-mortar stores that make and sell ordinary electronic scales in the hardware market, these online companies can be described as professional "cheating companies". Once you enter the homepage of these companies, each page is equally prominently hung with text and image content selling cheats.
After the reporter added the WeChat of multiple manufacturers, the other party would quickly pass, and then quickly send a video, and claimed that it could be remotely controlled from the electronic scale of the vegetable market to the weighbridge of the highway toll station. Merchants also send out invitations to reporters to visit their companies before deciding whether to buy or not.
The reporter contacted a boss surnamed Zhang on the website, and according to the agreement, the reporter came to a residential community in Fuzhou City, Fujian Province. In this room of less than ten square meters, there are various brands of electronic scales on the shelves, and there are many electronic scale accessories and tools stacked in the corner. Boss Zhang said that the modification of electronic scales was completed here.
Boss Zhang knows that modifying electronic scales is an illegal act, but driven by interests, he still takes risks to earn black money.
Boss Zhang introduced while demonstrating the "ghost scale" that the remote control "ghost scale" is easy to operate and has strong concealment, which is very popular with customers. Once it is suspected by consumers or inspected by regulatory authorities, with a slight click, the "ghost scale" will immediately become a scale.
For "ghost scales" and "black-hearted scales", the law enforcement officers of the market supervision department have always been strictly investigating and cracking down.
In a special rectification action for measuring instruments, plainclothes law enforcement officers in Jiaojiang District, Taizhou City, Zhejiang Province, found that the electronic scale was greasy when inspecting a fruit shop in Pingqiao Snack Street, Jiaojiang, and the shopkeeper also tried to restore the electronic scale by pressing the button. According to this clue, the law enforcement officers found the merchant who sold the "ghost scale".
According to statistics, a total of 15 electronic scales suspected of violating regulations were investigated and dealt with in this case, involving 2 manufacturers and 3 brands, and 13 of them were confirmed to be "ghost scales" after repeated tests. The Jiaojiang District Market Supervision Bureau has filed a case, and the operator will also face corresponding penalties for allegedly modifying electronic scales and disrupting market order.
To crack down on "ghost scales" and build a cleaner, safer and more assured business environment, the market supervision department needs to continue to increase the intensity of cracking down on measurement violations, and it is necessary to trace back to the source, thoroughly investigate the illegal modification business behind the "ghost scale", and curb such illegal chaos from the source.