A recent incident involving a food merchant has sparked widespread discussion, revealing issues that warrant reflection across the entire e-commerce ecosystem.

The merchant invested 30,300 yuan to invite a streamer with over 10 million followers to do a 20-minute live sales broadcast. The data looked good—the live room showed 599 orders placed. But the truth is heartbreaking: only 4 transactions were actually completed, with a net profit of less than 700 yuan.

Even more outrageous, a review found that all 586 orders were fake. Fake orders accounted for over 97%. Employees of the influencer company and their associated accounts engaged in large-scale fake order placement, with one employee alone placing 141 orders. Is this what they call "traffic"?

The matter has now entered the judicial process. Market regulation authorities have filed an investigation; the influencer returned over 30,000 yuan in participation fees, but another fee of 206,000 yuan for exclusive booking is still under negotiation.

This incident serves as a wake-up call for the industry:

**First, merchants need to have a long-term perspective.** Cooperation agreements must clearly specify sales commitments; decisions should not be made hastily based solely on follower counts. Fake traffic has nothing to do with real money.

**Second, platforms and regulators must take serious action.** Fake orders and inflated metrics have long been common issues, but cases of investigation and punishment remain few. Regulatory authorities are increasing their crackdown—this is a good thing—but efforts need to be intensified further.

**Third, the problem is not limited to live rooms.** Whether in traditional e-commerce or the Web3 ecosystem, fake transaction volumes and fake orders are common tactics. Behind seemingly impressive data, the truth is often hidden.