An unexpected byproduct of the e-commerce industry, “daigou,” or overseas shopping agents, remain popular even as stricter regulations are put into place to prevent smuggling. Some agents, however, have found an easier workaround. Through the use of fabricated receipts and logistics records, daigou are now passing off fake products as real imported ones.

This troubling phenomenon was outlined in an undercover report by Shanghai-based video news outlet Pear Video. The report profiled a shoe factory in Putian, Fujian province that makes counterfeit sneakers, which are then sold online as genuine products - supposedly purchased from shopping malls overseas.

To make the sneakers look more convincing, the factories work with express companies to fabricate products' shipping records.

“If you want to look like an overseas daigou, you should never say you are selling from here. Customers will immediately demand a refund if they see it on the logistics information,” said one anonymous source. “Express companies can make your orders look as if they were sent from Hong Kong,” the source added.

Advertisements by several express companies on the streets of Putian blatantly boast that they can “upload logistics information from elsewhere” with the help of delivery employees in certain regions. Hong Kong, for example, is a popular place for the service, as it is a common location for daigou to base their businesses. For roughly 35 RMB, it's possible to make a delivery look as though it came from the special administration region.

In response to the report, the express companies in the video explained that such illegal activity is conducted by individuals, and they have already reported the issue to authorities.

Meanwhile, many customers continue to count on purchase receipts as solid proof of the authenticity of their products. However, an anonymous source close to the daigou industry told the People’s Daily Online that fake receipts are sometimes printed by online shops to help daigou pass off their products as those from foreign shopping malls.