I don’t doubt your words, China is in fact like that but I doubt those stickers actually have the right codes. If they do, how did they get them? And are those the newer 22 digit codes or the older shorter ones?
the older DHS codes had to be changed, and I think the reason was due to security measures related.
maybe someone hacked the shorter codes before, or the codes was leaked.
I think culprits will always break the system, because people don't live with ethics, so the only way is to constantly updating the security measures and be ahead of the culprits.
I can't be sure about all those claims of people having DHS stickers, but I have heard of it before.
whether or not if the stickers work, I am not sure, but maybe DHS needs to update its coding method every year, and link it to the product year of the products, so this way, it makes it harder for the fakes.
So it will always be a cat and mouse game.
I can't understand why the Chinese gov won't crack down on it.
If you shout political related subjects or free Tibet etc, you can't hide and the police will be on you in an instance, wipe your social media clean and make you disappear. But these illegal businesses are huge and have been going on for decades.
You can even walk into the biggest international expo in China, and you can see company selling fakes products to international buyers in the expo (yes, the fake company has a stand at reputable expos, selling fakes).
There was a documentary of a company selling fake Redbull drinks at the expo, they changed the logo but said, they can print any logo you want, including of the original.
And then at the same expo, Vicks with label "made in Mexico" will be exported out of the Chinese factory.... lol