A shopper in southern China has been placed under eight days of administrative detention after using artificial intelligence to fabricate images and videos of dead crabs in an attempt to fraudulently obtain a refund, local media reported, highlighting a new technological frontier in retail fraud.

The case surfaced after an online seafood seller surnamed Gao, based in Jiangsu province, said a customer who bought eight live crabs on Nov 17 claimed the next day that six had arrived dead. The buyer submitted photos and videos that appeared to show the dead crabs, prompting Gao to issue a refund of 195 yuan ($27), according to a report by the Qilu Evening News.

But Gao soon noticed irregularities. The crab legs appeared unusually stiff and upright, and the crabs' abdominal flaps were turned in ways inconsistent with natural death, raising suspicions that the images had been generated or manipulated with AI.

A closer review revealed even more inconsistencies: one video showed two male and four female crabs, while another showed three males and three females — despite the fact that Gao had shipped four male and four female crabs.

Gao tried to contact the buyer, but received no response. After posting a video online to expose the suspected scam, she faced a privacy-infringement complaint and later received threatening messages from unidentified users. With help from a friend, she reported the incident to police in Guangzhou on Nov 28.

Police later issued an administrative penalty ruling confirming that the customer had used a mobile phone to create a synthetic video of dead crabs to fraudulently claim the refund. The buyer was detained from Nov 29 to Dec 7, and the refund was fully recovered, Gao said in a social media post.

The incident has fueled concerns among Chinese e-commerce merchants about a growing wave of AI-assisted refund fraud, especially as leading platforms have begun scaling back their once-popular "refund-only" policies. Retailers say the policies — originally intended to simplify returns — have increasingly been exploited by dishonest customers seeking refunds without sending back merchandise.

In a separate case in Yiwu, Zhejiang province, a shoe seller said a customer attempted to use an AI-generated video to claim a refund for a pair of shoes costing slightly more than 10 yuan. The buyer had worn the shoes for several days before complaining about loose stitching. When the shop required proof by asking the customer to cut the shoes and film the damage, the buyer first submitted what appeared to be an AI-created clip, and dismantled the shoes only after the merchant insisted.

Gao has urged e-commerce platforms to introduce technical tools capable of identifying AI-generated images and videos, saying merchants need stronger protection as fraud tactics rapidly evolve.