Weight fraud

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Weight fraud (also scale fraud and short-weighting) is a type of measurement fraud involving the mislabeling or inaccurate weighing of products. In this deceptive practice, products are labeled or weighed in a manner that falsely indicates a greater weight than they actually possess. For fraud deterrence, many locales require periodic calibration of weight scales and employ inspectors to verify that the legal standard definitions of weights are being met.

The rise of self-checkout has led to consumer weight fraud at the register resulting in shrinkage. Customers may intentionally or unintentionally misrepresent the weight of products when using self-checkout machines, leading to a discrepancy between the actual and recorded weights of products.

Weight fraud can also involve the adulterating the product through the addition of lower-cost, inferior, or unnecessary ingredients, such as water, in order to increase its overall weight. This type of adulteration allows manufacturers or sellers to artificially inflate the weight of the product while reducing their production costs, thereby increasing their profits. However, this form of weight fraud misleads consumers and may negatively impact the quality, safety, or nutritional value of the product, potentially resulting in harm to both the consumers and the integrity of the marketplace.

In transportation, freight brokers and carriers may misstate weights to maximize profits.